Principle Wealth Partners LLC Has $2.61 Million Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 30.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,293 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 39.9% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 43,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,221,000 after purchasing an additional 12,400 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 891,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $86,524,000 after purchasing an additional 13,668 shares during the last quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,175 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 7,885 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $765,000 after purchasing an additional 1,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 69.5% in the 4th quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 4,082 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 1,674 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE:DUK traded down $1.32 on Friday, reaching $97.71. The stock had a trading volume of 1,994,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,375,920. The company has a market capitalization of $75.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $100.13. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $94.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.77.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.62.

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.