Tower Wealth Partners Inc. Invests $225,000 in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Tower Wealth Partners Inc. bought a new position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,846 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,737 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $941,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Duke Energy by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 68,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,461,000 after acquiring an additional 18,604 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its position in Duke Energy by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 8,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $921,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917 shares during the period. Finally, Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $261,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.4%

DUK opened at $115.22 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $118.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.90. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $99.21 and a twelve month high of $125.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.37.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $126.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.81.

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.