WINTON GROUP Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 61.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,642 shares during the quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,852,731,000 after acquiring an additional 779,054 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,016,846,000 after buying an additional 442,302 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $922,529,000 after buying an additional 135,665 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in Duke Energy by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $269,368,000 after acquiring an additional 561,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at $2,537,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $119.42 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The business’s 50 day moving average is $115.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $92.75 and a 12-month high of $121.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. Research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 73.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.87.

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.