AM Investment Strategies LLC Grows Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

AM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 173 shares during the quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CKW Financial Group purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 49.1% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $99.03. 2,540,754 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,996,189. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.67. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $100.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 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 (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. KeyCorp increased their target price on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Mizuho increased their target price on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Seven 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.62.

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.