Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Has $50.39 Million Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 467,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 36,210 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Duke Energy worth $50,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Bank grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 4,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 55.9% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 9,739 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 3,492 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 1.6% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 402,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,379,000 after buying an additional 6,527 shares during the period. L.M. Kohn & Company grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 6,868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $792,000 after buying an additional 678 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 125.9% in the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 48,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,579,000 after acquiring an additional 26,965 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on DUK shares. Guggenheim boosted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.87.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE DUK opened at $119.42 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $92.75 and a 12 month high of $121.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $115.17 and a 200-day moving average of $113.70. The company has a market cap of $92.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.