Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Has $3.82 Million Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,659 shares during the quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 9.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 108,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,520,000 after purchasing an additional 9,334 shares during the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,888,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the first quarter worth $1,396,000. PrairieView Partners LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the second quarter worth $501,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 362.7% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 27,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,664,000 after acquiring an additional 21,590 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.85.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $111.27 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.07. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $88.27 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. Analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

About Duke Energy

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.