Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 173 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 173 shares during the quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. CKW Financial Group bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter worth about $28,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Bank of America cut Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $96.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Duke Energy Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE DUK 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 capitalization of $74.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.07, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $94.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.88. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $83.06 and a 52-week high of $100.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.