Riverbend Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Riverbend Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.6% in the 3rd 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $922,529,000 after buying an additional 135,665 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in Duke Energy by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $269,368,000 after buying an additional 561,784 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Duke Energy by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $264,111,000 after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,537,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target 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 raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.57.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.5 %

DUK stock opened at $118.46 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $91.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $112.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.30. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $92.75 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. Analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.20%.

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.