Spirit of America Management Corp NY Grows Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Spirit of America Management Corp NY boosted its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 26.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,150 shares during the quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. PBMares Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Baron Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 10,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DUK. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.08.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $112.46 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $86.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $110.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.61. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $90.09 and a 12-month high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

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 given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

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.