Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $922.53 Million Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 135,665 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.11% of Duke Energy worth $922,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $264,111,000 after purchasing an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $2,537,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 116.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 155.1% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.0 %

DUK stock opened at $118.62 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $91.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $111.23 and a 200-day moving average of $113.16. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.22 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently 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.