Albion Financial Group UT Buys 1,323 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Albion Financial Group UT boosted its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 18.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 112,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,231,000 after acquiring an additional 10,162 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $388,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 49.7% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 130,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,120,000 after buying an additional 43,475 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the period. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 37,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,754,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $110.73 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $85.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $110.38 and its 200 day moving average is $112.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $90.09 and a 1-year high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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 firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio 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.