Southland Equity Partners LLC Acquires 155 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Southland Equity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Southland Equity Partners LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 332.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of DUK stock opened at $109.37 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $110.33 and a 200-day moving average of $112.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market cap of $84.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.10, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $90.09 and a 1-year high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

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.