Corundum Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Corundum Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 14,531 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,566,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DUK. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $257,000. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,742 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 663 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,064 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 18,708 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,016,000 after acquiring an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $5,324,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on DUK. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Duke Energy from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:DUK traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $109.34. The company had a trading volume of 2,928,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,915,086. The firm has a market cap of $84.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.49. The business's fifty day moving average is $110.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.09 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. Duke Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio is 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.