Sierra Summit Advisors LLC Purchases 1,204 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Sierra Summit Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 32.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,204 shares during the quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Bcwm LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $9,815,000. Bailard Inc. raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 31,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,439,000 after acquiring an additional 3,139 shares in the last quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 52,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,705 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 35,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,852,000 after purchasing an additional 7,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Business Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $384,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on DUK shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. 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 research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.87.

Duke Energy Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $118.91 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $116.33 and a 200-day moving average of $113.84. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $92.75 and a 52-week high of $125.27. The stock has a market cap of $92.40 billion, a PE ratio of 20.83, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given 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 3.52%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 73.20%.

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.