Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Has $59.65 Million Stock Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lowered its position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 8.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 505,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 48,561 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $59,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 98.1% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter worth about $27,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 360.0% in the first quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DUK. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.00.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.5%

Duke Energy stock opened at $122.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.64 billion, a PE ratio of 20.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.39. Duke Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $105.20 and a twelve month high of $127.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $122.29 and a 200-day moving average of $119.52.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.065 per share. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 69.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total transaction of $832,542.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,768,397.72. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total transaction of $248,760.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,438,843.04. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Company 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.