Apollon Financial LLC Buys Shares of 25,360 Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Apollon Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 25,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,732,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 52,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,705 shares during the period. CCM Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,008,000 after acquiring an additional 16,356 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,032,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 296,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,941,000 after purchasing an additional 9,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,566,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank increased their price target on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.08.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK stock opened at $115.01 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $90.09 and a 52-week high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.67. The company has a market capitalization of $88.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. 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 3.63%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.84%.

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.