Partners Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Partners Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 2,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,016,846,000 after acquiring an additional 442,302 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,500,000 after purchasing an additional 6,719,398 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $264,111,000 after purchasing an additional 6,500 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at about $2,537,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 155.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,832,000 after buying an additional 1,138,979 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.62.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK opened at $115.58 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $89.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $110.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.00. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $90.09 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. Sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 73.20%.

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.