Duke Energy Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:DUK)

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 5,791 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 51% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,844 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bailard Inc. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 31,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,439,000 after buying an additional 3,139 shares in the last quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 52,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,613,000 after buying an additional 2,705 shares in the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,032,000. CCM Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,008,000 after acquiring an additional 16,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Duke Energy by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 296,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,941,000 after purchasing an additional 9,070 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on DUK shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.62.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK stock traded down $0.97 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $117.70. 1,579,877 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,358,189. Duke Energy has a one year low of $92.33 and a one year high of $121.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $111.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.16. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. Equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 73.20%.

About Duke Energy

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.