Moody National Bank Trust Division Buys 255 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the second quarter worth about $2,888,000. CCM Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 16,356 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 59.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 23,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,697,000 after purchasing an additional 8,699 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,016,846,000 after purchasing an additional 442,302 shares during the period. Finally, Commerce Bank lifted its position in Duke Energy by 5.9% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 269,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,041,000 after purchasing an additional 15,069 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.6 %

DUK opened at $106.77 on Wednesday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $90.09 and a 1-year high of $121.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $110.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.87.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.91%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 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.