Duke Energy Corporation $DUK Shares Bought by Engineers Gate Manager LP

Key Points

• Engineers Gate Manager LP more than doubled its Duke Energy stake in the second quarter, adding 22,578 shares for a total holding of 40,613 shares valued at approximately $5.14 million. Institutional investors collectively own 65.31% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with ten Buy ratings and eight Hold ratings. Duke Energy has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $137.94, above its reported $119.48 share price.
• Duke Energy exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting adjusted EPS of $1.43 versus the $1.30 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 1.1% year over year to $7.59 billion. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $1.085 per share, implying a 3.6% annualized yield.

Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 125.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,613 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 22,578 shares during the quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP's holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 27.3% during the second quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,227 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,168,000 after buying an additional 1,981 shares during the period. Insight Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $609,000. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $606,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 45.5% in the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 47,241 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,980,000 after acquiring an additional 14,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 11,978 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,516,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on DUK shares. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Duke Energy from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Duke Energy from $138.00 to $133.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Duke Energy from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho set a $136.00 price target on Duke Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $137.94.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.1%

DUK stock opened at $119.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $93.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.22. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $113.89 and a 52 week high of $134.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.13. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 15.78%.The firm had revenue of $7.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.72 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $1.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Duke Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. Duke Energy's payout ratio is 65.17%.

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy Corporation is an electric and natural gas utility holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, with a generation portfolio that includes natural gas, nuclear, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources. It also operates natural gas distribution businesses and provides related energy services.

Duke Energy's regulated electric utilities serve residential, commercial and industrial customers across the Carolinas, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

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