CoreFirst Bank & Trust Invests $73,000 in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $73,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 31,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,378,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 7,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co grew its position in Duke Energy by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 1,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Down 1.7 %

DUK opened at $116.10 on Wednesday. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $92.75 and a 52 week high of $121.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.65. The company has a market capitalization of $90.21 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. Analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DUK shares. Morgan Stanley boosted 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, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.87.

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.