AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 18,231 Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 18,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,964,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. United Bank raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.7% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 4,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 4.7% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 4,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Cadence Bank grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.5% during the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 8,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 114,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,213,000 after buying an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

Duke Energy stock opened at $117.10 on Thursday. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $92.75 and a fifty-two week high of $121.47. 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 $90.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.68.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on DUK shares. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.87.

About Duke Energy

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.