Wesbanco Bank Inc. Has $9.12 Million Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 23.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 74,769 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,161 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $9,120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,852,731,000 after purchasing an additional 779,054 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,097,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,949,857,000 after acquiring an additional 124,863 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,873,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,930,833,000 after acquiring an additional 385,612 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $922,529,000 after acquiring an additional 135,665 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,503,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $916,168,000 after buying an additional 357,967 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.4%

DUK opened at $115.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.21 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $118.43 and its 200 day moving average is $114.91. The stock has a market cap of $89.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.37.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 69.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $126.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $127.00 price objective (up from $126.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.81.

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.