Tectonic Advisors LLC Grows Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 61,197 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,347 shares during the period. Tectonic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $6,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,500,000 after acquiring an additional 6,719,398 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter worth $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 155.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 13,829.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,782,000 after buying an additional 1,117,526 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $112.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $109.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.65. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $90.09 and a one year high of $121.25. The stock has a market cap of $86.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.08.

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.