Southeast Asset Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Southeast Asset Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,875 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $595,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,562,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,094,327,000 after purchasing an additional 1,676,061 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 17,880.0% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,249,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,250,133,000 after acquiring an additional 10,192,503 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,656,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,055,087,000 after acquiring an additional 93,699 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,503,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $916,168,000 after acquiring an additional 357,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.9% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,153,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $994,496,000 after acquiring an additional 152,542 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $127.00 price target (up previously from $124.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $125.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.07.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK stock opened at $124.2140 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $119.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.38. The company has a market cap of $96.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.20, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.36. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $105.20 and a 12 month high of $127.85.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.04). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.The firm had revenue of $7.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $1.065 dividend. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.27%.

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.