Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 240,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,827 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $25,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CX Institutional raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 10.8% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 304,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,101,000 after purchasing an additional 25,937 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.1% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 31,920 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,680,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 158.9% during the third quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 8,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 5,206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.5% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 98,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,441 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DUK. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. 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. KeyCorp cut shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.08.

Duke Energy Stock Down 2.0 %

DUK stock opened at $111.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. 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, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. Equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 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.