abrdn plc Increases Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

abrdn plc lifted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 41.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 363,139 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 105,647 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $38,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DUK. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 52,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,613,000 after buying an additional 2,705 shares in the last quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,008,000 after buying an additional 16,356 shares in the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,032,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Duke Energy by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 296,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,941,000 after buying an additional 9,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,566,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.3 %

DUK opened at $113.88 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $109.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.65. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $90.09 and a one year high of $121.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.08.

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.