Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Acquires 7,631 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 565,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,631 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned approximately 0.07% of Duke Energy worth $60,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 332.9% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 100.0% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK stock opened at $110.73 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $90.09 and a 52 week high of $121.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $110.41 and a 200-day moving average of $112.12. The company has a market cap of $85.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 76.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

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.