SevenBridge Financial Group LLC Acquires 7,805 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

SevenBridge Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 51.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 22,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,805 shares during the quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 155.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 116.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,852,731,000 after purchasing an additional 779,054 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on DUK shares. Guggenheim increased their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.87.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK opened at $121.08 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The business has a fifty day moving average of $115.63 and a 200 day moving average of $113.75. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $92.75 and a 52-week high of $122.50. The stock has a market cap of $94.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.20, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 73.20%.

Duke Energy 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.