Front Row Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Front Row Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,310 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 99 shares during the quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. May Hill Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $287,000. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 11,159 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,202,000 after buying an additional 4,557 shares in the last quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 2,549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Diametric Capital LP acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $204,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,873,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,930,833,000 after acquiring an additional 385,612 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $122.07 on Tuesday. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $92.75 and a 52-week high of $122.50. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $115.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.73. The firm has a market cap of $94.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its 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, sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on DUK. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.87.

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.