RFG Advisory LLC Has $1.59 Million Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

RFG Advisory LLC lowered its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 157 shares during the quarter. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,592,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 332.9% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 100.0% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp downgraded Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK opened at $109.86 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $110.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $112.21. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $84.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $90.09 and a 52 week high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

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.