WBH Advisory Inc. Sells 372 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

WBH Advisory Inc. trimmed its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 6.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 372 shares during the period. WBH Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 2,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 3,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Breakwater Capital Group boosted its position in Duke Energy by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 2,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $771,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 30.4% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. 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. Barclays increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.75.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK traded down $0.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $111.61. The stock had a trading volume of 231,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,954,664. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $86.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $104.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.28. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $116.67.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

Insider Activity

In other Duke Energy news, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4 shares in the company, valued at approximately $409.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 4 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.