Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Acquired by Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 14.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 137,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,000 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $14,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $2,537,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $163,819,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 155.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 116.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,520,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111,581 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK opened at $118.91 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $92.75 and a 1-year high of $125.27. The stock has a market cap of $92.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.88. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.87.

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.