CCM Investment Advisers LLC Purchases 16,356 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

CCM Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 24.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,356 shares during the period. CCM Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $9,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,586,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,625,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $162,973,000 after acquiring an additional 56,629 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy during the second quarter worth $377,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 0.3% in the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 34,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,477,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 797.0% during the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 129,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,983,000 after purchasing an additional 115,088 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. Scotiabank upped their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK traded down $2.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $105.70. The company had a trading volume of 875,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,753,617. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $90.09 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $111.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company has a market capitalization of $81.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 76.84%.

Duke Energy Company 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.