Financial Advocates Investment Management Purchases 1,917 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 28.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,917 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 55.4% in the 4th quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $556,000. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC now owns 8,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $947,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Clayton Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 3,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DUK. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on 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 cut their price target on 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. BMO Capital Markets raised 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, February 3rd. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.08.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of DUK stock opened at $115.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.85 billion, a PE ratio of 21.14, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50. 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 earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

Duke Energy 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.