B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Cuts Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,299 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $7,366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 1,500.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim increased their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.81.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $116.51 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $119.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.65. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $99.21 and a 1 year high of $125.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.32%.

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.