Fiduciary Financial Group LLC Buys Shares of 2,748 Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Fiduciary Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at about $2,888,000. CCM Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,008,000 after purchasing an additional 16,356 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 59.2% in the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 23,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,697,000 after purchasing an additional 8,699 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% in the third 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. Finally, Commerce Bank raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 5.9% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 269,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,041,000 after purchasing an additional 15,069 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of DUK opened at $106.39 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.87. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $90.09 and a twelve month high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 EPS for the current 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 issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus 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.