Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Has $2.84 Million Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,333 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,859 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the second quarter worth $2,586,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.6% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,625,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $162,973,000 after acquiring an additional 56,629 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $377,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 34,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,477,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Duke Energy by 797.0% in the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 129,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,983,000 after buying an additional 115,088 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of DUK stock traded down $2.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $105.97. The company had a trading volume of 825,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,742,176. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $90.09 and a 1-year high of $121.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $111.14 and a 200 day moving average of $111.59. The firm has a market cap of $81.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on DUK shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.