Lockerman Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Lockerman Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CKW Financial Group bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 12th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Bank of America lowered Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $96.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $96.68 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.90. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $100.39. 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 $74.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 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 the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $1.025 dividend. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.10% 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.