Cornerstone Advisors LLC Grows Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,954,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,016,846,000 after purchasing an additional 442,302 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $922,529,000 after purchasing an additional 135,665 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $269,368,000 after purchasing an additional 561,784 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $264,111,000 after purchasing an additional 6,500 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,537,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on DUK shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.57.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE DUK opened at $118.46 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market cap of $91.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $112.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.30. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $92.75 and a 52 week high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.20%.

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.