Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Purchased by Park National Corp OH

Park National Corp OH lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the quarter. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DUK. Peoples Bank KS lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 2,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Strathmore Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $399,000. Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in Duke Energy by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 7,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $843,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the period. Doliver Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 9,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 1,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centre Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 5,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of DUK stock opened at $108.30 on Thursday. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $90.09 and a 12 month high of $121.25. The company has a market cap of $83.66 billion, a PE ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.49. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $111.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.62.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 EPS for the current year.

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.