National Bank of Canada FI Acquires 19,613 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 351,469 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,613 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $34,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 42.5% during the 3rd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 15.8% during the third quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 3,194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 1.3% in the third quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 19,122 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,688,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 19,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 1,450 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock traded down $0.14 during trading on Monday, reaching $100.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,112,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,982,270. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $100.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $77.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $95.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.17.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.62.

Duke Energy 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.