Duke Energy Corporation $DUK Holdings Lifted by Liberty One Investment Management LLC

Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 13.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 232,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,012 shares during the period. Duke Energy accounts for about 3.1% of Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $30,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,957,592 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in Duke Energy by 56.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,662,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $312,067,000 after purchasing an additional 965,808 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,236,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $965,446,000 after purchasing an additional 954,907 shares in the last quarter. Milford Funds Ltd. bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth $97,905,000. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 83.3% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 1,711,445 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $200,598,000 after purchasing an additional 777,878 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DUK shares. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $137.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Evercore upped their target price on Duke Energy from $139.00 to $140.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 3,500 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,680,087.25. This represents a 14.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Harry K. Sideris sold 20,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.37, for a total value of $2,487,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 96,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:DUK opened at $129.29 on Friday. Duke Energy Corporation has a one year low of $113.89 and a one year high of $134.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.38.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.085 per share. 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. This represents a $4.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 65.24%.

Key Headlines Impacting Duke Energy

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

• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy said data center growth should create billions of dollars in long-term customer savings and support responsible system expansion, reinforcing a constructive demand outlook for the utility. Duke Energy: Data center growth will deliver billions of dollars of customer savings
• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy received its first advanced gas turbine, which should help it generate electricity more efficiently and support reliability and future capacity needs. Duke Energy receives first advanced gas turbine to generate electricity more efficiently
• Neutral Sentiment: Florida officials are moving toward extending Duke Energy’s service territory for decades, which may improve long-term visibility but does not appear to be an immediate earnings catalyst. As electric bills rise, Florida officials move toward 30 more years with Duke Energy
• Neutral Sentiment: A local outage in east Durham affected more than 2,000 customers during heavy rain, highlighting operational disruptions but likely having limited financial impact. More than 2,000 without power in east Durham amid heavy rain: Duke Energy
• Negative Sentiment: North Carolina’s attorney general said Duke Energy’s reduced rate increase is still too high, keeping regulatory pressure on the company’s pricing plans. NC attorney general says Duke Energy’s lowered rate increase is still too high
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of a stakeholder agreement cutting the residential rate increase to 9.5% suggest Duke may get less pricing relief than it initially sought. Duke Energy-stakeholder agreement pares down residential rate increase to 9.5% for 2 years

About Duke Energy

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.