Quantinno Capital Management LP Purchases 26,845 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 59.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 72,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 26,845 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $7,782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 5,943 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $640,000 after acquiring an additional 693 shares during the period. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $291,000. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after buying an additional 3,305 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.00.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK stock opened at $115.82 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $99.21 and a 52 week high of $125.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $119.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. The business’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.32%.

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.