Bcwm LLC Buys New Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Bcwm LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 91,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,815,000. Duke Energy comprises about 3.5% of Bcwm LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Duke Energy by 155.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 116.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,520,000 after buying an additional 1,111,581 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,852,731,000 after purchasing an additional 779,054 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on DUK. UBS Group increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.87.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $119.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average of $115.17 and a 200-day moving average of $113.70. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $92.75 and a 52-week high of $121.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. Equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 73.20%.

Duke Energy 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.