Childress Capital Advisors LLC Has $331,000 Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Childress Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 144 shares during the quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 52,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,705 shares in the last quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC raised 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 valued at $9,008,000 after buying an additional 16,356 shares during the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth $1,032,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 296,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,941,000 after acquiring an additional 9,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,566,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $113.21 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.45 billion, a PE ratio of 20.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $90.09 and a 1 year high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The business had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on DUK. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank raised their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.08.

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.