Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Buys 19,987 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 489,935 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,987 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $64,152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 35.2% during the first quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. now owns 5,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $753,000 after buying an additional 1,480 shares during the last quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 125.8% in the 1st quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 85,875 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,244,000 after acquiring an additional 47,844 shares during the period. Cambient Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 43.8% during the 1st quarter. Cambient Family Office LLC now owns 2,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 749 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 9.8% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $712,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Duke Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Duke Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy is being highlighted as a defensive stock in a higher-inflation, higher-rate environment, which can attract income-oriented investors looking for stability and dividends. Buy 4 Defensive Stocks as Inflation Hits Highest Level in 3 Years
• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho reiterated an Outperform rating on Duke Energy, saying it can execute despite near-term regulatory challenges; the firm also maintained a higher price target than the current trading range. Mizuho Says Duke Energy (DUK) Can Execute Despite Near-Term Regulatory Challenges
• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy’s efforts to harden the grid ahead of hurricane season, including “self-healing” upgrades, could support reliability and reduce outage risk over time. Duke Energy prepares for hurricane season with “self-healing” upgrades
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is also being discussed as a high-dividend blue-chip utility, reinforcing its appeal as a steady income name rather than a growth stock. Is Duke Energy (DUK) One of the Best S&P 500 Stocks to Buy for Dividends?
• Negative Sentiment: North Carolina’s attorney general still says Duke’s revised request for an 11.6% rate hike is too high, keeping regulatory pressure front and center for the stock. Duke Energy cuts proposed NC rate hike to 11.6%, still too high, AG says
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh headlines about a lawsuit over Duke’s solar procurement pause and local service disruptions, including an Asheville outage, add to concerns about operations and public scrutiny. Lawsuit targets Duke Energy solar pause that could raise customer bills Power outage hits downtown Asheville; underground equipment damaged: Duke Energy
• Negative Sentiment: Community pushback in places like Clearwater and Swain County over Duke projects suggests continued local resistance that could slow development or raise costs. Clearwater considers replacing Duke Energy with city-owned electric utility Swain property owners express Duke Needmore route concerns

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Evercore lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $139.00 to $140.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Duke Energy from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Barclays cut their target price on Duke Energy from $143.00 to $134.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Duke Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.33.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.15, for a total transaction of $438,025.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 21,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,680,087.25. This represents a 14.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Harry K. Sideris sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.37, for a total transaction of $2,487,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 96,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,952,205.74. This represents a 17.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $128.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. Duke Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $113.89 and a 1 year high of $134.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $124.98 and a 200-day moving average of $124.32.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.06. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 15.49%.The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $1.065 dividend. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 65.24%.

Duke Energy Profile

Duke Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based electric power holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company’s core business is the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Duke Energy operates a mix of regulated electric utilities and non-regulated energy businesses, providing essential energy infrastructure and services across multiple states.

Its operating activities include owning and operating generation assets across a portfolio that encompasses nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and an expanding array of renewable resources, as well as battery storage and grid modernization projects.