Lockerman Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Lockerman Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $428,000. FLC Capital Advisors raised its position in Duke Energy by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 3,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 18,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC now owns 21,172 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 9,108 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $884,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE DUK opened at $96.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.46. 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 one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $100.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $94.01 and its 200-day moving average is $92.90.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The company 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

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

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.