Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Increases Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 34,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at about $377,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,625,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,973,000 after acquiring an additional 56,629 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 72.0% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,935 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.7% in the second quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 406,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,728,000 after purchasing an additional 6,909 shares during the period. Finally, Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 17.1% during the second quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.92.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $116.16 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $110.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.68. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $118.18. The stock has a market cap of $89.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.19, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a $1.045 dividend. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

Duke Energy 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.