NewSquare Capital LLC Cuts Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

NewSquare Capital LLC lowered its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 351 shares during the quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $7,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 155.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 116.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $222,520,000 after buying an additional 1,111,581 shares during the period. Finally, Brookfield Corp ON grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 112.6% in the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 1,002,811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,624,000 after buying an additional 531,073 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $116.46 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $111.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.19. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $92.33 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The firm has a market cap of $89.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.62.

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.