Welch Group LLC Buys 171 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Welch Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 12,316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 52,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,705 shares in the last quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,008,000 after buying an additional 16,356 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth $1,032,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 296,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,941,000 after acquiring an additional 9,070 shares during the period. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,566,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $113.21 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $110.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.57. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $90.09 and a one year high of $121.25. The stock has a market cap of $87.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 3.69%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 76.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.08.

Duke Energy 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.