Whittier Trust Co. Boosts Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,999 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,016,846,000 after buying an additional 442,302 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $922,529,000 after acquiring an additional 135,665 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,368,000 after acquiring an additional 561,784 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,537,000. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 116.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $222,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,581 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.87.

Duke Energy Stock Down 1.0 %

DUK opened at $119.01 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $92.75 and a one year high of $121.47. The company has a market cap of $92.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s fifty day moving average is $114.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 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%. Analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 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.