Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Purchased by Atlas Brown Inc.

Atlas Brown Inc. raised its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 465 shares during the period. Atlas Brown Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at $2,586,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.6% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,625,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $162,973,000 after purchasing an additional 56,629 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $377,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in Duke Energy by 0.3% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 34,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,477,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 797.0% in the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 129,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,983,000 after purchasing an additional 115,088 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Duke Energy Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE DUK traded down $2.37 on Friday, reaching $105.86. The company had a trading volume of 1,993,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,904,877. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.77 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $111.14 and a 200-day moving average of $111.59. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $90.09 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

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.