Townsend & Associates Inc Has $4.86 Million Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Townsend & Associates Inc grew its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 82.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,166 shares during the quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $4,859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. PBMares Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 1.8% during the third quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.4% in the third quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $760,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.9% in the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 10,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.85.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $113.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $87.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $86.61 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The company’s fifty day moving average is $115.84 and its 200 day moving average is $108.73.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 76.98%.

Duke Energy Company 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.