Hexagon Capital Partners LLC Increases Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,053 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 28.6% during the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 25,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,691,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Duke Energy stock traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $98.26. 2,488,660 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,968,449. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.80 billion, a PE ratio of 27.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $100.13. The business’s 50-day moving average is $95.10 and its 200-day moving average is $93.94.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on DUK shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.62.

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.