Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Takes Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 301,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,525,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 1,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.87.

Duke Energy Stock Down 4.1 %

DUK opened at $118.91 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $116.33 and a 200-day moving average of $113.88. The company has a market capitalization of $92.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $92.75 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.