Oak Thistle LLC Purchases New Shares in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 9,992 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,219,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $127.25.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $119.98. The company had a trading volume of 1,905,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,493,339. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $116.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.52. The stock has a market cap of $93.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. Duke Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $105.20 and a 1 year high of $125.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.40% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $1.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. This is a positive change from Duke Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 69.32%.

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.