Stephens Inc. AR Purchases 41,732 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Stephens Inc. AR grew its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 17.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 276,979 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,732 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $29,842,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Duke Energy by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $693,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the period. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 47,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,142,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229 shares during the period. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. now owns 39,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,286,000 after acquiring an additional 3,312 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaStar Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC now owns 39,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,304,000 after acquiring an additional 6,630 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $115.01 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.72. The company has a market cap of $88.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.50. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $90.09 and a 52-week high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six equities research 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.08.

Duke Energy Company 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.