OMC Financial Services LTD Invests $325,000 in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

OMC Financial Services LTD purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,363 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. PFG Advisors raised its position in Duke Energy by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 4,069 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in Duke Energy by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 2,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $206,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 217,738 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,129,000 after buying an additional 3,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. grew its stake in Duke Energy by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 1,175 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK traded up $1.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $113.92. The stock had a trading volume of 4,606,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,871,585. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $103.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.84. The firm has a market cap of $87.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $116.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 103.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on DUK. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho raised their price target on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Barclays raised their price target on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.58.

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.