ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC Has $397,000 Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 197 shares during the quarter. ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PBMares Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% during the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $760,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 0.9% in the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 10,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DUK. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a 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 research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Mizuho upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of DUK stock opened at $110.73 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $85.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.09 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its 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). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for 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 was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio 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.