Advisory Alpha LLC Has $1.72 Million Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Advisory Alpha LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,962 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 830 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 332.9% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 100.0% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DUK. Scotiabank upped their price objective 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. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note 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 price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $110.73 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.12. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $90.09 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.49. 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 (NYSE:DUK) last issued 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 company 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 quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. Analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. 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.