Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Acquired by Liberty One Investment Management LLC

Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 280,920 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,281 shares during the period. Duke Energy accounts for 3.3% of Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $30,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 52,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,705 shares during the period. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $2,888,000. CCM Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,008,000 after purchasing an additional 16,356 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,032,000. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its position in Duke Energy by 59.2% during the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 23,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,697,000 after buying an additional 8,699 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Scotiabank upped their price target on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho raised 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 research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE DUK opened at $109.34 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $90.09 and a one year high of $121.25. The firm has a market cap of $84.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 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.