WealthTrust Axiom LLC Has $1.56 Million Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

WealthTrust Axiom LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Certuity LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 3,268 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 252,058 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,460,000 after purchasing an additional 36,000 shares during the period. Field & Main Bank raised its stake in Duke Energy by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 4,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 57,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,543,000 after purchasing an additional 3,855 shares during the period. Finally, Altrius Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $208,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.62.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $98.41. 1,119,380 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,950,374. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $100.13. 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 stock has a market cap of $75.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $94.98 and its 200 day moving average is $93.87.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The business had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.