Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 173 shares during the quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CKW Financial Group purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the first quarter worth about $28,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the first quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 29th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK stock opened at $96.10 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.88. The company has a market cap of $74.14 billion, a PE ratio of 27.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $100.39. 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 (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $1.025 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.27%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.