Maple Brown Abbott Ltd Has $51.58 Million Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Maple Brown Abbott Ltd reduced its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 18.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 478,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 107,740 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy makes up approximately 6.3% of Maple Brown Abbott Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $51,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 332.9% in the fourth 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. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DUK. Barclays upped their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho raised shares of 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 note on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $109.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $110.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.29. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $90.09 and a 52-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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

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