Sunbelt Securities Inc. Has $506,000 Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 20.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 806 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1,500.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 366.7% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $126.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.81.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $116.51 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $119.00 and its 200-day moving average is $114.65. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $99.21 and a 52-week high of $125.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $90.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. The business’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 69.32%.

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.