Fiduciary Financial Group LLC Purchases 102 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Fiduciary Financial Group LLC grew its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DUK. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $127.00 target price (up from $126.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.81.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK opened at $116.28 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $118.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.92. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $99.21 and a 1-year high of $125.27. The company has a market cap of $90.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.36, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.37.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $8.25 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

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

About Duke Energy

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.