Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Acquired by LexAurum Advisors LLC

LexAurum Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 34.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 639 shares during the quarter. LexAurum Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 11,471.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,500,000 after acquiring an additional 6,719,398 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 155.1% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 13,829.1% in the 3rd 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 period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp cut shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on 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. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE DUK opened at $109.86 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $90.09 and a 52 week high of $121.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $110.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.84%.

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.