MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC Takes $214,000 Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $214,000. Channing Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth $1,333,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 351,469 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,505,000 after purchasing an additional 19,613 shares in the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,972,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TCG Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 49.1% in the 4th quarter. TCG Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,882 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Duke Energy stock traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $100.43. 3,081,418 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,001,468. The company’s fifty day moving average is $95.53 and its 200-day moving average is $94.17. 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 market cap of $77.48 billion, a PE ratio of 28.24, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $100.74.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on DUK shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate 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.