Atlas Private Wealth Advisors Increases Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Atlas Private Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Duke Energy were worth $463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 332.9% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 100.0% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK stock opened at $109.86 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.15. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $90.09 and a 52 week high of $121.25. 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 cap of $84.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.