Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Holdings Lifted by U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 24.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,849 shares during the quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $998,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,500,000 after acquiring an additional 6,719,398 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 155.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,138,979 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 13,829.1% during the third 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 last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $112.46 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company’s fifty day moving average is $110.00 and its 200-day moving average is $112.61. The firm has a market cap of $86.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $90.09 and a 12 month high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on DUK. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. 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 note on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six 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.com, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.08.

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.