Jennison Associates LLC Acquires Shares of 422,527 Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 422,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $45,523,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised 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 buying an additional 6,719,398 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 13,829.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,526 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $112.46 on Wednesday. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $90.09 and a one year high of $121.25. The stock has a market cap of $86.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $110.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 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 company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on DUK shares. KeyCorp downgraded Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho upgraded shares of 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. Scotiabank upped 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.08.

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.