Pacer Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,025 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $8,561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% in the first quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,326,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 11,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 0.6% in the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 19,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,872,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 14,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK stock opened at $96.10 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $74.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $94.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.88. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $100.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The company had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $1.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on DUK shares. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America lowered shares of Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $105.00 to $96.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

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.