Cascade Investment Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Cascade Investment Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 160 shares during the quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PBMares Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% in the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.4% during the third quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Baron Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 3.5% in the third quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 10,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,172,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on DUK shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective 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 cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $109.34 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $84.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $90.09 and a 52-week high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

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