RMR Wealth Builders Increases Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

RMR Wealth Builders boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 15,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,222 shares during the quarter. RMR Wealth Builders’ holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,680,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DUK. PBMares Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% during the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $760,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Baron Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 10,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on DUK shares. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted 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 note on Thursday, December 12th. 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 MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK stock traded down $2.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $105.93. The stock had a trading volume of 2,998,145 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,114,850. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.59. The firm has a market cap of $81.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results 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). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.95%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

Duke Energy 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.