BLB&B Advisors LLC Has $2.58 Million Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

BLB&B Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,703 shares during the period. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,581,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Platform Technology Partners grew its stake in Duke Energy by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 16,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,812,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $436,000. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Duke Energy by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $353,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 102,284 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,020,000 after buying an additional 4,102 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DUK. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank raised their price target on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.08.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $115.01 on Friday. 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 one year low of $90.09 and a one year high of $121.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $109.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.67. The company has a market capitalization of $88.85 billion, a PE ratio of 21.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Duke Energy’s dividend 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.