Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Acquired by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 98,671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,447 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $9,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 69,586 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,753,000 after purchasing an additional 5,127 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 8,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,206,000. Sfmg LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Finally, TRUE Private Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 3,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on DUK shares. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of 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 report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.17.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Duke Energy stock traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $96.14. The company had a trading volume of 355,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,967,544. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $100.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $94.07 and a 200-day moving average of $93.24. The firm has a market cap of $74.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.02, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 EPS 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.