Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Position Raised by HHM Wealth Advisors LLC

HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $255,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. First Command Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in Duke Energy by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 14,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Verum Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 3,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 27,481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,667,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DUK. Mizuho upped their target price 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. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.62.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK traded down $1.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $97.71. 1,994,792 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,375,920. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.77. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $100.13.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Company 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.