Fiduciary Alliance LLC Raises Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 132.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,541 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,853 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 82.7% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the topic of several research reports. 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 report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of DUK stock opened at $106.29 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.83. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $90.09 and a 52-week high of $121.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.11 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.49. 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 results 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 business had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

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.