Point72 Hong Kong Ltd Makes New Investment in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 22,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,383,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 31,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,378,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Intergy Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 7,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $779,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, Cravens & Co Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Cravens & Co Advisors LLC now owns 2,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DUK. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.00.

Duke Energy Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of DUK opened at $115.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $99.21 and a 1 year high of $125.27. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $119.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.32%.

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.