Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Purchases 815 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 815 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PBMares Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.8% during the third quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.4% during the third quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Baron Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.5% during the third quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Private Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.6% during the third quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,843,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Creek Financial Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.0% during the third quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:DUK opened at $117.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $90.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.50. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $90.09 and a 52 week high of $121.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $110.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.06.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. On average, equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 73.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DUK. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank upped 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.62.

Duke Energy Profile

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.