Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the quarter. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DUK. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the period. CCM Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,008,000 after buying an additional 16,356 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,032,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 296,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,941,000 after acquiring an additional 9,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $1,566,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $112.14 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $110.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $112.49. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.09 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The firm has a market cap of $86.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.23.

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.