Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Holdings Lifted by Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV

Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,756,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,500,000 after buying an additional 6,719,398 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $166,263,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 13,829.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,526 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 65.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,769,000 after purchasing an additional 813,744 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.4 %

Duke Energy stock opened at $108.30 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $111.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.59. The firm has a market cap of $83.66 billion, a PE ratio of 19.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $90.09 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DUK. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy 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.