Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,346 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $145,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 66.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 381,223 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,260,000 after buying an additional 151,914 shares during the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 111.4% during the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 106,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,435,000 after acquiring an additional 55,921 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 892,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,080,000 after purchasing an additional 193,381 shares in the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 67.8% during the 4th quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 33,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,632,000 after purchasing an additional 13,617 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 35,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,790,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $119.42 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $92.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $115.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.68. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $92.75 and a 1-year high of $121.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 73.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.87.

About Duke Energy

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.