Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Bought by Peddock Capital Advisors LLC

Peddock Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Westover Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 7,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $702,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $580,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,471,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,672,000 after acquiring an additional 40,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Williams Financial LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy during the second quarter worth $593,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK traded up $0.42 during trading on Monday, hitting $106.29. 2,387,591 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,009,373. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $111.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.79. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $90.09 and a 1-year high of $121.25. The firm has a market cap of $82.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company 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

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on DUK shares. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank boosted 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. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.