Power Wealth Management LLC Takes $277,000 Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Power Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at $45,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $71,000. PFS Partners LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 145.0% during the fourth quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 263.2% in the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on DUK. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.62.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK traded up $0.95 on Friday, hitting $100.26. 4,338,461 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,636,808. 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 $100.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $95.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.09.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In related 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 transaction 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.