Swiss National Bank Acquires 6,500 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.30% of Duke Energy worth $264,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new position in Duke Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $45,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in Duke Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $1,396,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 362.7% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 27,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,664,000 after acquiring an additional 21,590 shares in the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 49.3% in the first quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,030,000 after acquiring an additional 3,517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trustmark National Bank Trust Department lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.4% in the first quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 27,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,642,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $112.17 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $86.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.62, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $115.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $88.27 and a 1 year high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 3.73%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

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.