State of Alaska Department of Revenue Increases Stock Position in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 90,915 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,805 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in Duke Energy were worth $11,088,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 11.6% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Americana Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 4,807 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $518,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 101,582 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $10,945,000 after purchasing an additional 11,154 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 1,937 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on DUK. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Guggenheim increased their target price on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $125.75.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.3%

DUK traded down $0.30 on Thursday, reaching $114.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,937,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,457,232. The company has a market capitalization of $88.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.37. Duke Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $99.21 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $118.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $114.90.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.40% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The business had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.32%.

Duke Energy 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.