Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Increases Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 22.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of DUK. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $2,888,000. CCM Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,008,000 after purchasing an additional 16,356 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Duke Energy by 59.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 23,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,697,000 after purchasing an additional 8,699 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 442,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 269,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,041,000 after buying an additional 15,069 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK opened at $109.05 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $110.59 and its 200-day moving average is $111.83. The stock has a market cap of $84.24 billion, a PE ratio of 20.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $90.09 and a twelve month high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. On average, analysts predict 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 given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on DUK shares. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

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.