12,534 Shares in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Acquired by Orca Wealth Management LLC

Orca Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 12,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,350,000. Duke Energy makes up approximately 1.2% of Orca Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 8,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $953,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,422,000 after buying an additional 2,491 shares during the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,073,000 after acquiring an additional 2,237 shares during the period. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 885.9% in the fourth quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 55,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,936,000 after acquiring an additional 49,506 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of 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. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $111.42 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $86.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $110.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.42. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $90.09 and a 1-year high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued 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 3.75%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.