Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Bought by Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC

Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,342 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $899,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised 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 buying an additional 1,138,979 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 116.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,520,000 after buying an additional 1,111,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,368,000 after purchasing an additional 561,784 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.8 %

DUK opened at $120.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.40 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $112.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $92.75 and a 12-month high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. 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 3.48%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DUK. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.93.

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.