Wesbanco Bank Inc. Buys 11,443 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 15.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 86,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,443 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $10,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $728,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 97,906 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,547,000 after buying an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 597.3% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 31,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,404,000 after buying an additional 27,077 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 131,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,216,000 after buying an additional 29,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 580.7% during the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 99,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,712,000 after buying an additional 84,816 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 target price on Duke Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $127.00 target price (up from $124.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total transaction of $248,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total value of $832,542.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,768,397.72. The trade was a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $121.96 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $121.42 and a 200-day moving average of $119.16. The company has a market capitalization of $94.84 billion, a PE ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.66. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $105.20 and a 52-week high of $127.85.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $7.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.065 per share. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.27%.

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.