Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Buys Shares of 22,300 Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 22,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,404,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 280.8% in the fourth quarter. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 7,413 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,328,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 2,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Novus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $537,000. Finally, Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 15,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,695,000 after buying an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. 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, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.57.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $116.78 on Monday. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $92.75 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The stock has a market cap of $90.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a fifty day moving average of $111.81 and a 200-day moving average of $113.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 73.20%.

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.