Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Purchased by FourThought Financial Partners LLC

FourThought Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 14.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 24,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,170 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,109,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $317,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cannon Wealth Management Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Cannon Wealth Management Services LLC now owns 19,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,211,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.62.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.3 %

Duke Energy stock opened at $115.86 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $110.27 and its 200-day moving average is $113.03. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $90.09 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The company has a market cap of $89.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given 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 dividend yield of 3.61%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.