Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC Grows Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,980 shares during the quarter. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $9,312,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DUK. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 5.5% in the fourth 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 last quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 24.3% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,032,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 296,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,941,000 after buying an additional 9,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $1,566,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of DUK opened at $112.28 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $90.09 and a 1-year high of $121.25. The company has a market capitalization of $86.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 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. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.45.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp cut shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

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.