Xponance Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 98,671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,447 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $9,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DUK. CKW Financial Group bought a new position in Duke Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in Duke Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Bank of America increased their target price on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK stock traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $96.14. The stock had a trading volume of 355,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,967,544. The stock has a market cap of $74.17 billion, a PE ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.24. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $83.06 and a 52-week high of $100.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The business’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

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.