Cypress Capital Group boosted its stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 50.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,435 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,815 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group's holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $266,000. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 119,758 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,903,000 after acquiring an additional 5,166 shares during the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $2,636,000. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 376,321 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $40,545,000 after purchasing an additional 5,462 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages have commented on DUK. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $125.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $129.20.
Read Our Latest Analysis on DUK
Duke Energy Trading Down 0.9%
Shares of DUK traded down $1.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $124.46. 3,826,265 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,218,880. The firm has a market cap of $96.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.36. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $105.20 and a 12-month high of $127.85. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $118.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.
Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.07 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. Duke Energy's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.
Duke Energy Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.065 per share. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This is an increase from Duke Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.97%.
About Duke Energy
(
Free Report)
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.
Featured Articles

Before you consider Duke Energy, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Duke Energy wasn't on the list.
While Duke Energy currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Learn the basics of options trading and how to use them to boost returns and manage risk with this free report from MarketBeat. Click the link below to get your free copy.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.