River Road Asset Management LLC Invests $8.21 Million in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

River Road Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 84,567 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,206,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,326,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. First Manhattan Co. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 11,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 19,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,872,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 14,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Finally, Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.8 %

DUK opened at $94.50 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $94.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $100.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.62, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly 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). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on DUK shares. Evercore ISI raised shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.17.

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.