Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Has $953,000 Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $953,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $207,000. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 135,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,595,000 after acquiring an additional 3,115 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the second quarter worth $134,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $111.42 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $86.07 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $90.09 and a one year high of $121.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $110.24 and a 200-day moving average of $112.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

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.