CCM Investment Advisers LLC Buys 16,356 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

CCM Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 24.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,356 shares during the quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $9,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the second quarter worth $2,586,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,625,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,973,000 after purchasing an additional 56,629 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $377,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% in the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 34,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,477,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 797.0% in the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 129,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,983,000 after buying an additional 115,088 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on DUK shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. 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 MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock traded down $2.53 on Friday, hitting $105.70. The stock had a trading volume of 875,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,753,617. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $111.14 and a 200 day moving average of $111.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $90.09 and a twelve month high of $121.25. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio 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.