Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $282,000 in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 281,712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $282,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. United Bank lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.7% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 4,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $237,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 83.2% in the third quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 2,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 23.8% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 4,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $519,000 after buying an additional 865 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on DUK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.93.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $117.76 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $112.22 and its 200 day moving average is $113.34. The firm has a market cap of $91.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.62, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $92.75 and a one year high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 73.20%.

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.