Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV Purchases 3,391 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 20.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,691 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,391 shares during the period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bcwm LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,815,000. Bailard Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 31,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,439,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 35,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,852,000 after purchasing an additional 7,319 shares during the last quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $384,000. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 76,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,240,000 after purchasing an additional 20,414 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.4%

DUK opened at $115.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.21 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $118.43 and its 200 day moving average is $114.90. The stock has a market cap of $89.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.37.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on DUK shares. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $127.00 target price (up previously from $126.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Monday, June 2nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $126.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.81.

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.