Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Grows Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,400,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 249,967 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of Duke Energy worth $258,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,852,731,000 after buying an additional 779,054 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,097,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,949,857,000 after acquiring an additional 124,863 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,873,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,930,833,000 after acquiring an additional 385,612 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Duke Energy by 1.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 135,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Duke Energy by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $269,368,000 after purchasing an additional 561,784 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DUK. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank boosted their price target 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. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.87.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $118.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $92.75 and a 52-week high of $125.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $116.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.86. The company has a market capitalization of $92.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. Research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s 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.