Swiss National Bank Has $298.85 Million Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Swiss National Bank increased its position in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 7.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,282,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 151,400 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.29% of Duke Energy worth $298,850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,258,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,172,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957,592 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,292,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,266,675,000 after buying an additional 230,375 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Duke Energy by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,931,127 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,046,818,000 after buying an additional 58,375 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,236,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $965,446,000 after buying an additional 954,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.4% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,758,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $960,139,000 after acquiring an additional 31,703 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.15, for a total value of $438,025.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,415 shares in the company, valued at $2,680,087.25. This represents a 14.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Harry K. Sideris sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.37, for a total transaction of $2,487,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 96,102 shares in the company, valued at $11,952,205.74. This represents a 17.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Duke Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Duke Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Truist raised its price target on Duke Energy to $138 and reiterated a Buy rating, signaling confidence in the utility’s earnings outlook and suggesting meaningful upside from current levels. Benzinga report on Truist rating update
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan also lifted its price target to $141, even while keeping a Neutral rating, which still reflects expectations for solid longer-term value creation. Benzinga report on JPMorgan target increase
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary highlighted Duke Energy as one of the utilities best positioned for long-term growth thanks to its strong customer base and large capital expenditure program, with analysts pointing to contracted load and new demand from data centers as supportive of future earnings. Seeking Alpha article
• Neutral Sentiment: Duke Energy is expected to report second-quarter results next month, and analysts are looking for a modest earnings increase, keeping attention on whether the company can deliver on its growth plans. Barchart article
• Neutral Sentiment: Local coverage suggests Clearwater may renew its long-term electricity contract with Duke Energy, which would help preserve customer relationships and support revenue stability. Yahoo Finance article
• Negative Sentiment: North Carolina’s attorney general is challenging proposed Duke Energy Progress rate increases, adding another regulatory hurdle that could limit future pricing power and earnings growth. MSN article
• Negative Sentiment: Additional reports say AG Jeff Jackson is seeking to block nearly $1 billion in Duke Energy rate hikes over the next two years, reinforcing investor concerns about regulatory pushback on returns. Yahoo News article

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $125.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.38. Duke Energy Corporation has a one year low of $113.89 and a one year high of $134.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $125.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.06. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.72 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $1.085 dividend. This represents a $4.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DUK. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $139.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $137.00 to $135.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Capitol Sec Mgt lowered shares of Duke Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.73.

Duke Energy Company Profile

Duke Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based electric power holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company’s core business is the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Duke Energy operates a mix of regulated electric utilities and non-regulated energy businesses, providing essential energy infrastructure and services across multiple states.

Its operating activities include owning and operating generation assets across a portfolio that encompasses nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and an expanding array of renewable resources, as well as battery storage and grid modernization projects.