Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. Makes New $31,000 Investment in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. AJOVista LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $71,000. PFS Partners LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 145.0% in the fourth quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the period. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 263.2% during the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK traded up $1.84 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $102.26. The stock had a trading volume of 3,801,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,018,786. The company has a market cap of $78.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $95.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.37. 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 1 year low of $83.06 and a 1 year high of $102.36.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on DUK. Bank of America lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.62.

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.