Highland Capital Management LLC Purchases 2,434 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Highland Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 47,787 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,434 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $4,790,000 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. CWM LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 37,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,626,000 after buying an additional 4,181 shares during the period. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $500,000. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $385,000. RWA Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 121.5% during the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $739,000 after purchasing an additional 4,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $307,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:DUK traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $112.36. 2,732,539 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,961,570. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.72 billion, a PE ratio of 28.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $116.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50-day moving average of $106.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.66.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on DUK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.85.

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.