Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Buys 594 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 161,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 594 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $17,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $61,000. 1ST Source Bank boosted its position in Duke Energy by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 11,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,208,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 1,829 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $197,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 17,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,870,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 121,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,129,000 after purchasing an additional 17,088 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on DUK shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 research note on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim raised their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.93.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $120.88 on Tuesday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $113.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.52. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $92.75 and a 12-month high of $121.47. The company has a market capitalization of $93.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio 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.