Sutton Place Investors LLC Makes New Investment in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Sutton Place Investors LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 11,513 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,117,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 47,250 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,276,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 29.5% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,751 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 2,223 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 447.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,260 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,505 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK traded down $0.12 during trading on Thursday, reaching $95.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,105,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,046,318. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $94.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.08. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $100.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. The business's revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Duke Energy from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $101.00.

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.