Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $3.25 Million Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 825 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,253,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 49.1% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth $71,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Down 1.3 %

Duke Energy stock opened at $97.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $100.13. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.52, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The company had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.62.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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.