Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Holdings Lifted by TCTC Holdings LLC

TCTC Holdings LLC grew its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 33.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,829 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 155.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,138,979 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 116.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 29.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $120.88 on Tuesday. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $92.75 and a 52 week high of $121.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $93.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.52.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued 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 net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. As a group, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 73.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced 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 report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.93.

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.