HUB Investment Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

HUB Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 117 shares during the quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $2,016,846,000 after buying an additional 442,302 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $922,529,000 after buying an additional 135,665 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,368,000 after buying an additional 561,784 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,537,000. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 116.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,520,000 after buying an additional 1,111,581 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Guggenheim upped their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.64.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK stock opened at $120.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s 50-day moving average is $113.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.65. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $92.75 and a 1 year high of $121.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. Analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.20%.

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.