Caprock Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 12.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,291 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,274,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.0% in the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in Duke Energy by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 157,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,130,000 after purchasing an additional 10,177 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 35.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,137,000 after buying an additional 2,605 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.2% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 7,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $822,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $217,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $112.14 on Monday. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $90.09 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The company has a market capitalization of $86.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.49. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $110.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $112.53.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect 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 paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.23.

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.