Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc Increases Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 115,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $12,942,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 366.7% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 332.9% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on DUK shares. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.62.

Duke Energy Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of DUK stock opened at $115.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $89.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $90.09 and a one year high of $121.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $110.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. Sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.20%.

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.