Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Acquired by Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 393 shares during the quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 52,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,705 shares in the last quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,008,000 after purchasing an additional 16,356 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $1,032,000. Corundum Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,566,000. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 59.2% during the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 23,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,697,000 after acquiring an additional 8,699 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 2.5 %

Duke Energy stock opened at $112.60 on Tuesday. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $90.09 and a 12-month high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.36.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays increased their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

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.