5,758,388 Shares in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) Bought by Nuveen LLC

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC acquired 5,758,388 shares of Duke Energy Corporation, valued at approximately $702.35 million, representing roughly 0.74% of the company.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $129.20 for Duke Energy, with Goldman Sachs targeting $132.00 and Wells Fargo raising their target from $127.00 to $138.00.
• Duke Energy declared an increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.065 per share, yielding approximately 3.4%, with the ex-dividend date on August 15th.

Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 5,758,388 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $702,351,000. Nuveen LLC owned about 0.74% of Duke Energy at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on DUK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 target price on Duke Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $129.20.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.5%

Duke Energy stock opened at $125.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $97.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.36. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $105.20 and a 52 week high of $127.85. The business's 50-day moving average price is $118.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $7.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%. The firm's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.065 per share. This is an increase from Duke Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.97%.

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.

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