Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $201.83 Million Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 155.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,138,979 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $201,832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,500,000 after buying an additional 6,719,398 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $166,263,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 13,829.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,526 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 65.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,769,000 after purchasing an additional 813,744 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of DUK opened at $106.77 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $110.73 and its 200-day moving average is $111.87. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $90.09 and a 12 month high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Company 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.