LCM Capital Management Inc Buys New Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

LCM Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 13,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 3,247 shares in the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 484.6% during the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 26,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,596,000 after acquiring an additional 22,177 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP grew its stake in Duke Energy by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 14,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,431,000 after buying an additional 3,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WealthTrust Axiom LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 16,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,564,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy 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 completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on DUK shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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 note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Seven equities research 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.com, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.62.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.5 %

Duke Energy stock traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $98.26. 2,488,660 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,968,449. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $95.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.94. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $83.06 and a 52-week high of $100.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.