Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Sells 412 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC cut its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 412 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Tompkins Financial Corp lifted its position in Duke Energy by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 86,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 117,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,647,000 after buying an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 52,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,705 shares in the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 36,965 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,983,000 after acquiring an additional 2,480 shares during the period. Finally, Cvfg LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $330,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of DUK stock opened at $109.34 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $84.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $111.88. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $90.09 and a 1 year 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.