Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,787 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $300,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 4,312 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Duke Energy by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,482 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,099,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,008,000 after purchasing an additional 16,356 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 26,333 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,837,000 after purchasing an additional 1,859 shares during the period. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 4,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 1,651 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. Barclays increased their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Six investment 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.com, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK stock traded down $2.23 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $106.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,520,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,860,974. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $111.14 and its 200 day moving average is $111.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.88 billion, a PE ratio of 19.49, 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 current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

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). 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors 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 3.94%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 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.