World Investment Advisors Buys 10,816 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

World Investment Advisors raised its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 121.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,816 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. United Bank lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 2.7% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 4,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 96,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,173,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $173,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Duke Energy by 40.9% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 45,386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,233,000 after acquiring an additional 13,180 shares during the period. Finally, Wills Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 4.6% during the third quarter. Wills Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,908 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $796,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.87.

Duke Energy Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $118.91 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $92.75 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. On average, analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.20%.

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.