Keudell Morrison Wealth Management Has $779,000 Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 187 shares during the quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $779,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. New Century Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $216,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $12,749,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.0% in the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $201,000. Finally, Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $215,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $112.28 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.44. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $90.09 and a 52 week high of $121.25. The stock has a market cap of $86.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.64, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on DUK shares. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

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.