Chung Wu Investment Group LLC Purchases New Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 442,302 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 1.6% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake 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 valued at $264,111,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,537,000. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 116.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,520,000 after buying an additional 1,111,581 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased 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, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.57.

Duke Energy Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $115.26 on Thursday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $92.75 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. 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.