Linscomb Wealth Inc. Increases Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Linscomb Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 88,911 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares during the quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $9,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted 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 worth $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares in the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 112.6% in the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 1,002,811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,624,000 after purchasing an additional 531,073 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,016,846,000 after purchasing an additional 442,302 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE DUK opened at $116.03 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $110.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.10. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $90.09 and a 12 month high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market capitalization of $89.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its 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, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on DUK. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank upped their price target on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.62.

Duke Energy 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.