Brucke Financial Inc. Takes Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Brucke Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Duke Energy by 2.3% during the first 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 boosted its position in Duke Energy by 17,880.0% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,249,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,250,133,000 after purchasing an additional 10,192,503 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Duke Energy by 4.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,921,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,088,158,000 after purchasing an additional 418,014 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Duke Energy by 1.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,656,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,055,087,000 after purchasing an additional 93,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Duke Energy by 1.9% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,153,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $994,496,000 after purchasing an additional 152,542 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on DUK shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $141.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.08.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total transaction of $832,542.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,768,397.72. The trade was a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total value of $248,760.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,438,843.04. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of DUK opened at $126.88 on Friday. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $105.20 and a 12-month high of $127.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $123.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.85.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.04). Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The firm had revenue of $7.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.065 per share. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was 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.