Brighton Jones LLC Increases Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 700 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $728,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 5.5% during 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 last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the second quarter valued at about $2,888,000. CCM Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,008,000 after acquiring an additional 16,356 shares during the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,032,000. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. bought a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,566,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp downgraded Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK stock opened at $109.86 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market cap of $84.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.20, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s fifty day moving average is $110.26 and its 200 day moving average is $112.21. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $90.09 and a twelve month high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The business had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

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.