Asio Capital LLC Sells 298 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Asio Capital LLC cut its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 298 shares during the quarter. Asio Capital LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 52,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,705 shares during the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the second quarter worth $2,888,000. CCM Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,008,000 after buying an additional 16,356 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth $1,032,000. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,566,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:DUK opened at $109.86 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $90.09 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $110.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.21.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 76.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DUK. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp cut 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 raised their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays upped their target price 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. Finally, Scotiabank boosted 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

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.