AA Financial Advisors LLC Has $656,000 Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

AA Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $656,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DUK. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 332.9% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 100.0% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 research report on Friday, November 22nd. 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 note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $112.28 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $110.14 and a 200-day moving average of $112.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $90.09 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The company has a market capitalization of $86.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. 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.