Hobbs Group Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Hobbs Group Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 342 shares during the quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,852,731,000 after acquiring an additional 779,054 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,016,846,000 after purchasing an additional 442,302 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $922,529,000 after buying an additional 135,665 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,368,000 after buying an additional 561,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,537,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK stock opened at $119.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $92.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $92.75 and a 52-week high of $121.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The company’s 50 day moving average is $115.17 and its 200 day moving average is $113.72.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 73.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.87.

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.