bLong Financial LLC Buys New Shares in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

bLong Financial LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $1,239,000. CapWealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 188,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,259,000 after buying an additional 1,903 shares during the period. Kessler Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC now owns 62,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,767,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 62.2% in the fourth quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 5,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 1,959 shares during the period. Finally, BXM Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $387,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DUK. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp downgraded Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.08.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $111.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $86.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.53, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $109.85 and a 200-day moving average of $112.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $90.09 and a 52 week high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. As a group, analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.