Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. CGC Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 366.7% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 332.9% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Scotiabank raised 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. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given 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 $122.08.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:DUK opened at $114.43 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $109.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $88.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.09 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.