Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Boosts Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 54.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,458 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 52,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,705 shares during the last quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,008,000 after acquiring an additional 16,356 shares in the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,032,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 296,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,941,000 after purchasing an additional 9,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $1,566,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of DUK opened at $110.67 on Thursday. 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 market cap of $85.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $110.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $90.09 and a 12-month high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DUK shares. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.23.

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.