Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Purchased by Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 47,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,285 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wendell David Associates Inc. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Wendell David Associates Inc. now owns 5,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 5,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 38,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,196,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT raised its position in Duke Energy by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 8,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 1,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays boosted 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp downgraded Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $108.86 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $84.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.09 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.17. 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 released its 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 company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

Duke Energy Company 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.