Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 30.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,977 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 15,402 shares during the quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd.'s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $7,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DUK. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $163,819,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 116.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $222,520,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111,581 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,852,731,000 after acquiring an additional 779,054 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 4,838,705 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $521,322,000 after acquiring an additional 625,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $269,368,000 after acquiring an additional 561,784 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE:DUK traded down $0.84 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $116.47. 2,769,887 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,425,787. The firm has a market cap of $90.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $99.21 and a 52 week high of $125.27. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $119.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on DUK. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays raised their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $126.00.

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.