CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Buys 151,914 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 66.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 381,223 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 151,914 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $41,260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in Duke Energy by 1,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank raised their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. 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 report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.87.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:DUK opened at $119.42 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $92.75 and a 1-year high of $121.47. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $115.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 73.20%.

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.