BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Boosts Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 60.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 147,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 55,453 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $14,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,835,047,000 after buying an additional 324,289 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Duke Energy by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,111,521,000 after purchasing an additional 352,320 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,471,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,672,000 after purchasing an additional 40,243 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,973,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $190,845,000 after purchasing an additional 31,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,816,758 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $182,101,000 after purchasing an additional 240,136 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $116.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $112.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.28. The company has a market cap of $89.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $118.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The company’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America upped their target price on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.36.

Duke Energy Profile

Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest.