U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 24.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,849 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 5.5% during 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 during the period. CCM Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 24.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $1,032,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 296,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,941,000 after acquiring an additional 9,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $1,566,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $112.46 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.09 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.61. The company has a market cap of $86.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced 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 net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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