1ST Source Bank Boosts Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

1ST Source Bank raised its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the quarter. 1ST Source Bank’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 155.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 116.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,520,000 after buying an additional 1,111,581 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $269,368,000 after acquiring an additional 561,784 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DUK. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.93.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $120.29 on Monday. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $92.75 and a 12-month high of $121.25. The company has a market capitalization of $93.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $112.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid 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 3.48%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.20%.

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.