Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Acquires 2,769 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,389 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,769 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,888,000. CCM Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 83,610 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,008,000 after buying an additional 16,356 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Duke Energy by 59.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 23,388 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,697,000 after buying an additional 8,699 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,016,846,000 after buying an additional 442,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 86.5% in the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 148,703 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $16,021,000 after buying an additional 68,977 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DUK. Barclays boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp downgraded Duke Energy from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.3 %

Duke Energy stock traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $109.34. The company had a trading volume of 2,928,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,049,430. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $110.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.81. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $90.09 and a 12 month high of $121.25. The company has a market capitalization of $84.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.84%.

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.