Trueblood Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Trueblood Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $428,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 25,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,545,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Adviser Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $304,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,918,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $698,923,000 after buying an additional 144,612 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DUK. Evercore ISI raised shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $96.71. The stock had a trading volume of 2,439,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,147,220. The company’s fifty day moving average is $94.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $100.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.46.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $1.025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 115.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

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

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.