Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. Sells 121 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 121 shares during the quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 52,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,705 shares during the last quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,008,000 after acquiring an additional 16,356 shares during the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,032,000. Corundum Group Inc. bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,566,000. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its position in Duke Energy by 59.2% during the 3rd 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. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays raised their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK opened at $109.86 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $84.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.20, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $110.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.36. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $90.09 and a 1-year high of $121.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

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 business 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%. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 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. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

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.