2,101 Shares in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Bought by Longboard Asset Management LP

Longboard Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,101 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,016,846,000 after acquiring an additional 442,302 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,500,000 after purchasing an additional 6,719,398 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $264,111,000 after purchasing an additional 6,500 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,537,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 155.1% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,832,000 after buying an additional 1,138,979 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $113.21 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company has a market capitalization of $87.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $110.03 and a 200 day moving average of $112.57. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $90.09 and a 52 week high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.08.

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.