Wesbanco Bank Inc. Sells 1,977 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. reduced its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 60,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,977 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $6,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 5,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 38,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,196,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 8,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $902,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323 shares in the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 1,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 37,449 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,035,000 after acquiring an additional 8,963 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of DUK opened at $108.86 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $84.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.09 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $110.38 and a 200 day moving average of $112.19.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank raised their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays raised their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company 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.