Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Bought by Summit Asset Management LLC

Summit Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 25.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Summit Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,500,000 after acquiring an additional 6,719,398 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 155.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,832,000 after buying an additional 1,138,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 13,829.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,782,000 after buying an additional 1,117,526 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE DUK opened at $115.58 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $90.09 and a one year high of $121.25. The firm has a market cap of $89.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 73.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DUK. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of 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, Scotiabank raised their price objective 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.62.

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.