CoreFirst Bank & Trust Invests $73,000 in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $73,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 366.7% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Trading Down 1.7 %

DUK opened at $116.10 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market cap of $90.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $92.75 and a 12 month high of $121.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $114.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.65.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 73.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on DUK. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.87.

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.