Cordatus Wealth Management LLC Raises Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Cordatus Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,500,000 after acquiring an additional 6,719,398 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 155.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,138,979 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 13,829.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,782,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117,526 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on DUK. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.08.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:DUK opened at $113.15 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $90.09 and a one year high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.20%.

Duke Energy Company 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.