New Hampshire Trust Has $425,000 Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

New Hampshire Trust raised its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,943 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the quarter. New Hampshire Trust’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sky Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 41,356 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,992 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $213,000. Corundum Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,566,000. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $257,000. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK opened at $109.34 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $84.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $90.09 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on DUK. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.23.

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.