Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Has $372,000 Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $372,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY now owns 3,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 5,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. Persium Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $637,000. Cooper Financial Group grew its position in Duke Energy by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 10,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its stake in Duke Energy by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 5,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK opened at $106.39 on Thursday. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $90.09 and a 12-month high of $121.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $110.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays upped their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

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.