Nordea Investment Management AB Lowers Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Nordea Investment Management AB lowered its holdings in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 23.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 508,021 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 152,292 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned approximately 0.07% of Duke Energy worth $59,672,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,301,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,442,269,000 after acquiring an additional 584,382 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 11,417.7% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,668,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,084,917,000 after purchasing an additional 17,515,383 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,758,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $960,139,000 after purchasing an additional 31,703 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Duke Energy by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,281,986 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $901,146,000 after purchasing an additional 288,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,033,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $622,862,000 after buying an additional 12,758 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $136.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Monday, March 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $136.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Mizuho set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $125.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 6,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.67, for a total transaction of $868,156.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 22,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,809,633.69. This trade represents a 23.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Regis T. Repko sold 962 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.86, for a total value of $123,001.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 3,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $498,142.56. The trade was a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $127.26 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14 and a beta of 0.50. Duke Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $111.22 and a fifty-two week high of $134.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.01. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 9.66%. The company had revenue of $7.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were given a $1.065 dividend. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.41%.

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.