Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ Purchases Shares of 5,733 Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $618,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DUK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,500,000 after acquiring an additional 6,719,398 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at about $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at about $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 13,829.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,526 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $112.46 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $86.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $90.09 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.61.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced 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). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank lifted their price target 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, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Six research 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.08.

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.