Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $831,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 51.0% during the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 199.0% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 7,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $883,000 after buying an additional 5,096 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 34.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 451,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,056,000 after buying an additional 116,187 shares during the last quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $110.85 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $109.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.98. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.09 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The firm has a market cap of $85.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business 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 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 3.77%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 73.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on DUK. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp cut shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. 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. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.08.

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.