LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Buys 357 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,312 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 357 shares during the quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the second quarter worth $2,888,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 59.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 23,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,697,000 after purchasing an additional 8,699 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,016,846,000 after purchasing an additional 442,302 shares during the period. Commerce Bank grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 5.9% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 269,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,041,000 after purchasing an additional 15,069 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its position in Duke Energy by 1,258.1% during the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 49,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,689,000 after buying an additional 45,708 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK traded down $2.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $105.92. 1,153,561 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,797,686. The company has a market cap of $81.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $111.14 and its 200 day moving average is $111.59. 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 quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm 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 last year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on DUK. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp cut shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

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.