Plan Group Financial LLC Boosts Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Plan Group Financial LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,104 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,078 shares during the period. Plan Group Financial LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,016,846,000 after purchasing an additional 442,302 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,500,000 after purchasing an additional 6,719,398 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $264,111,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,537,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position 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. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:DUK opened at $110.85 on Wednesday. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $90.09 and a one year high of $121.25. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.38, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.