Transform Wealth LLC Has $621,000 Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Transform Wealth LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 49.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,904 shares during the quarter. Transform Wealth LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 10.0% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 112,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,231,000 after purchasing an additional 10,162 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $388,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 49.7% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 130,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,120,000 after buying an additional 43,475 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the second quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 37,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,754,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $110.73 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $110.41 and a 200-day moving average of $112.12. The stock has a market cap of $85.54 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.09 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 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. 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 3.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Scotiabank raised 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 upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price 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. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Company 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.