KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC Grows Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,039 shares during the quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted 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 worth $2,030,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,157 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,141,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,081,125,000 after buying an additional 509,039 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,468,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $923,907,000 after acquiring an additional 492,011 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $799,599,000 after acquiring an additional 842,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,113,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $787,328,000 after purchasing an additional 42,782 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, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total value of $1,027,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,057,253.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $99.66. 2,670,552 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,952,137. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $83.06 and a 1 year high of $104.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $100.73 and a 200 day moving average of $97.16.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a dividend of $1.025 per share. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on DUK shares. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.75.

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.