SWS Partners Boosts Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

SWS Partners grew its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 744 shares during the quarter. SWS Partners’ holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,016,846,000 after purchasing an additional 442,302 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $922,529,000 after buying an additional 135,665 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Duke Energy by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $264,111,000 after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,537,000. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 116.5% in the 4th 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. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $118.62 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.16. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $90.22 and a 1-year high of $121.25. The stock has a market cap of $91.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.50.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DUK shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on 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. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective 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. 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, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.62.

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.