Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC Has $706,000 Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 131 shares during the period. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Plan Group Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC now owns 9,104 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $981,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078 shares during the period. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $93,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 25,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,694,000 after purchasing an additional 2,144 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 5,541 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $597,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Finally, Bfsg LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 11,549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on DUK shares. Scotiabank raised their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target 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. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.08.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:DUK opened at $110.85 on Wednesday. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $90.09 and a 12 month high of $121.25. The firm has a market cap of $85.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.50. 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’s 50 day moving average is $109.84 and its 200-day moving average is $112.98.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. Equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 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.