Apella Capital LLC Grows Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Apella Capital LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 58.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,057 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,860 shares during the quarter. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,500,000 after purchasing an additional 6,719,398 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 155.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 13,829.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,526 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on DUK shares. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE DUK opened at $106.39 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $90.09 and a 52 week high of $121.25. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.87. The firm has a market cap of $82.18 billion, a PE ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 currently 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.