Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Has $649,000 Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC reduced its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $649,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 366.7% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $116.27 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $90.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $119.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.54. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.21 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on DUK. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.00.

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.