Quest Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 14,549 Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 14,549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,678,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 69.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $30,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $113.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $115.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.43. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $88.27 and a 1 year high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm 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 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on DUK. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.85.

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.