Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Has $5.03 Million Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. cut its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 46,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,488 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PBMares Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.4% in the third quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 10,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on DUK shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.08.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

DUK opened at $114.43 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.09 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $88.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $109.84 and its 200 day moving average is $112.66.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

Duke Energy 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.