Benin Management CORP Buys Shares of 1,868 Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Benin Management CORP bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 1,868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 10,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,172,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waddell & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 3,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,617.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.85.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of DUK stock traded down $0.74 on Monday, reaching $120.02. 551,254 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,042,962. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $85.79 and a 12-month high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $92.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $115.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.82.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.03%.

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.