Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Boosts Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter worth $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 155.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 116.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $222,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,581 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $269,368,000 after purchasing an additional 561,784 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on DUK shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.57.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $116.78 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $111.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.25. 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 market cap of $90.68 billion, a PE ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $92.75 and a 52 week high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 73.20%.

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.