Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Acquired by HB Wealth Management LLC

HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 68,721 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,784 shares during the quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Duke Energy were worth $7,404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on DUK. Scotiabank lifted 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. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $109.34. 2,928,344 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,915,086. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.49. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $110.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $111.97. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $90.09 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.