Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 250 Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 4,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 54.8% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 4,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 1,458 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $227,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 24,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,856,000 after acquiring an additional 3,908 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on DUK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Duke Energy from $126.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.81.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $116.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.55 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $118.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.70. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.21 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.