New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Acquires 101,327 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 27,990.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 101,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 101,327 shares during the quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $10,956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bailard Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 31,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,439,000 after acquiring an additional 3,139 shares during the last quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 52,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,705 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 35,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,852,000 after purchasing an additional 7,319 shares in the last quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $384,000. Finally, Pines Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,032,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

DUK opened at $117.67 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $114.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.71. 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 twelve month low of $92.75 and a twelve month high of $121.47. The stock has a market cap of $91.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced 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 return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. As a group, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given 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 yield of 3.55%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DUK. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.87.

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.