Guardian Partners Inc. Acquires Shares of 125,036 Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Guardian Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 125,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,533,000. Duke Energy accounts for about 1.4% of Guardian Partners Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $2,016,846,000 after purchasing an additional 442,302 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $922,529,000 after purchasing an additional 135,665 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,368,000 after purchasing an additional 561,784 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,537,000. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $222,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,581 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $119.01 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $92.75 and a 1-year high of $121.47. The company has a market cap of $92.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $114.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.67.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.87.

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.