Financial Partners Group LLC Acquires 2,525 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Financial Partners Group LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 39.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,525 shares during the quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $965,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 442,302 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,500,000 after acquiring an additional 6,719,398 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $264,111,000 after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,537,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 65.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,769,000 after purchasing an additional 813,744 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

DUK opened at $109.37 on Friday. 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 market capitalization of $84.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $110.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.17.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased 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 report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Company 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.