NovaPoint Capital LLC Boosts Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

NovaPoint Capital LLC increased its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. NovaPoint Capital LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,016,846,000 after acquiring an additional 442,302 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position 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. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Duke Energy by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $264,111,000 after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,537,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in 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 worth $201,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,138,979 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:DUK opened at $113.88 on Thursday. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $90.09 and a 12 month high of $121.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.93, 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 current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The business’s 50-day moving average is $109.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.65.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp downgraded Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.