Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Purchased by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 351,469 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,613 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $34,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Duke Energy by 4.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,030,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,157 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 4.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,468,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $923,907,000 after acquiring an additional 492,011 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,918,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $698,923,000 after purchasing an additional 144,612 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Duke Energy by 1.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,672,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,321,000 after buying an additional 124,114 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,205,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $635,952,000 after buying an additional 715,069 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on DUK. Royal Bank of Canada raised Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.62.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $100.12. 1,112,809 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,982,270. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.74. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $100.74. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $95.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.17.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Duke Energy

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.