Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Buys 5,739 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 69,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,739 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $7,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,500,000 after acquiring an additional 6,719,398 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter worth $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 155.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,832,000 after buying an additional 1,138,979 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,117,526 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $115.01 on Monday. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $90.09 and a 12-month high of $121.25. The firm has a market cap of $88.85 billion, a PE ratio of 21.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.76.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on DUK shares. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.08.

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.