VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Buys Shares of 3,597 Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $388,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth $29,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Finally, 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 worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DUK shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.93.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $120.85 on Wednesday. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $92.75 and a fifty-two week high of $121.47. The company has a market capitalization of $93.84 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 $113.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Duke Energy Profile

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.