Certified Advisory Corp Has $2.08 Million Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Certified Advisory Corp increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the quarter. Certified Advisory Corp’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,888,000. CCM Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 24.3% in the 4th 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. Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 59.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 23,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,697,000 after buying an additional 8,699 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,016,846,000 after buying an additional 442,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 86.5% in the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 148,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,021,000 after acquiring an additional 68,977 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank increased 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Up 2.4 %

NYSE:DUK opened at $109.05 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.83. The firm has a market cap of $84.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 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 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 announced 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). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. 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.