Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Makes New $364,000 Investment in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $364,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DUK. CKW Financial Group purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth about $28,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $96.10 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.88. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $100.39. The company has a market capitalization of $74.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The business had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $1.025 per share. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 115.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on DUK shares. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 29th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $105.00 to $96.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.