MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC Takes $214,000 Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Everhart Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Duke Energy by 42.5% in the 3rd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 1,219 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 3,194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 19,122 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,688,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 19,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on DUK. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Mizuho upped their price target on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.62.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK stock traded up $0.17 on Monday, hitting $100.43. 3,081,418 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,001,468. 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 company has a market capitalization of $77.48 billion, a PE ratio of 28.24, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $100.74. The company’s fifty day moving average is $95.53 and its 200 day moving average is $94.17.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict 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.