Legal & General Group Plc Raises Position in Duke Energy Corporation (DUK)

Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,727,381 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 168,181 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.68% of Duke Energy Corporation worth $387,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation by 1.5% in the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 379,737 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,142,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Hexavest Inc. raised its position in Duke Energy Corporation by 4.4% in the first quarter. Hexavest Inc. now owns 780,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,988,000 after buying an additional 32,947 shares during the last quarter. Pegasus Partners Ltd. raised its position in Duke Energy Corporation by 0.5% in the first quarter. Pegasus Partners Ltd. now owns 23,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,889,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in Duke Energy Corporation by 7.9% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 78,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,455,000 after buying an additional 5,795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment Corp IL raised its position in Duke Energy Corporation by 0.3% in the first quarter. Rothschild Investment Corp IL now owns 48,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,005,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. 55.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) traded up 0.59% during trading on Friday, hitting $86.38. 2,853,827 shares of the company were exchanged. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $84.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.46 billion, a PE ratio of 25.59 and a beta of 0.24. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $72.34 and a 12 month high of $87.75.

Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.01. The firm had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.76 billion. Duke Energy Corporation had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 7.72%. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post $4.60 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.89 per share. This is a boost from Duke Energy Corporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 16th. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.12%. Duke Energy Corporation’s payout ratio is presently 105.64%.

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A number of research firms have weighed in on DUK. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy Corporation from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. Deutsche Bank AG reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $84.00 price target (up from $83.00) on shares of Duke Energy Corporation in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $87.00 price target (up from $85.00) on shares of Duke Energy Corporation in a research report on Friday, August 4th. BidaskClub upgraded shares of Duke Energy Corporation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Duke Energy Corporation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Duke Energy Corporation has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.71.

In other news, EVP Douglas F. Esamann sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.22, for a total transaction of $431,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 50,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,338,245.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,937 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.29, for a total transaction of $165,206.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

About Duke Energy Corporation

Duke Energy Corporation (Duke Energy) is an energy company. The Company operates through three segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure; Gas Utilities and Infrastructure, and Commercial Renewables. The Company operates in the United States through its direct and indirect subsidiaries. The Electric Utilities and Infrastructure segment provides retail electric service through the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity to approximately 7.5 million customers within the Southeast and Midwest regions of the United States.