Uncommon Cents Investing LLC Takes Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Uncommon Cents Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $267,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% in the first quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,326,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan Co. boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 11,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 0.6% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 19,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,872,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chemung Canal Trust Co. boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 14,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $96.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,637,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,148,273. The stock has a market cap of $74.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.21, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $100.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. Research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $1.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Bank of America downgraded Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $105.00 to $96.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.