Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Grows Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 22.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew 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 worth $39,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 82.7% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $109.05 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $84.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.05, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $90.09 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $110.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.83.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The firm 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 company earned $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on DUK shares. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Scotiabank raised 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.23.

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.