Code Waechter LLC Buys New Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)

Code Waechter LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,456 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $422,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,852,731,000 after buying an additional 779,054 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,097,796 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,949,857,000 after buying an additional 124,863 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,873,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,930,833,000 after buying an additional 385,612 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,503,503 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $916,168,000 after buying an additional 357,967 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,001,073 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $862,036,000 after acquiring an additional 499,652 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK traded down $0.77 on Friday, hitting $117.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,098,870 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,478,019. The company has a market capitalization of $91.25 billion, a PE ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.50. Duke Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $104.02 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $116.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.69.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on DUK shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup raised their price target on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price objective on Duke Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $126.88.

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.