Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Buys 173 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. CKW Financial Group bought a new position in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DUK shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Duke Energy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Bank of America lowered Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $96.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

Duke Energy Stock Up 2.6 %

DUK stock opened at $96.10 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.14 billion, a PE ratio of 27.07, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $100.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.88.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.27%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate 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.