Family Legacy Inc. Raises Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Family Legacy Inc. grew its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 49,774 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Duke Energy accounts for 1.8% of Family Legacy Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Family Legacy Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 155.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,852,731,000 after purchasing an additional 779,054 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE DUK opened at $119.42 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $115.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.68. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $92.75 and a 12 month high of $121.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 73.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target 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. UBS Group raised their target price on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.87.

Duke Energy Company 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.