OLD National Bancorp IN Buys 324 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,147,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 332.9% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 100.0% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of DUK opened at $112.14 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $110.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $112.44. The stock has a market cap of $86.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $90.09 and a 12 month high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on DUK shares. Scotiabank raised their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

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.