Empower Advisory Group LLC Raises Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,158,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,926 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $124,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,705 shares in the last quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,008,000 after acquiring an additional 16,356 shares in the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $1,032,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 296,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,941,000 after acquiring an additional 9,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $1,566,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK stock opened at $111.69 on Monday. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $90.09 and a 12-month high of $121.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors 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 yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.08.

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.