Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 869 shares during the quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DUK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,500,000 after purchasing an additional 6,719,398 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter worth $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter worth $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 155.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 1,117,526 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of DUK opened at $106.39 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.18 billion, a PE ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $90.09 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.87.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

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.