Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Raises Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 57,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,855 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 28.6% during the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 894 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.5% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,691,000 after buying an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK stock opened at $98.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $95.10 and a 200-day moving average of $93.94. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $100.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a market cap of $75.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.68, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The company had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on DUK shares. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of 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 report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.62.

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.