Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $13.92 Million Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 138,889 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,828 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $13,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Howard Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $219,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 2,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 3.2% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 435,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,084,000 after acquiring an additional 13,406 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 57.8% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 27,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 9,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 182.5% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 39,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,786,000 after acquiring an additional 25,203 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on DUK shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.15.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

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

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK traded down $0.34 during trading on Thursday, reaching $113.12. 2,658,153 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,959,011. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.50. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $116.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $105.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.90. The firm has a market cap of $87.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a $1.045 dividend. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

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.