Federated Hermes Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,205,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 90,552 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy comprises about 0.8% of Federated Hermes Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.41% of Duke Energy worth $345,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,537,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth $163,819,000. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter worth $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 155.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,138,979 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 116.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $222,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,581 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of 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 increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.87.

Duke Energy Stock Down 4.1 %

Shares of DUK stock opened at $118.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $92.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.83, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $92.75 and a 52 week high of $125.27.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.