Duke Energy Corporation $DUK Shares Purchased by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 0.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 234,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $27,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,562,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,094,327,000 after purchasing an additional 1,676,061 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 17,880.0% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,249,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,250,133,000 after purchasing an additional 10,192,503 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,921,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,088,158,000 after purchasing an additional 418,014 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,656,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,055,087,000 after purchasing an additional 93,699 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,153,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $994,496,000 after purchasing an additional 152,542 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on DUK shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $143.00 target price for the company. Cowen started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $134.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were 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. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their position. 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 stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total transaction of $248,760.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $128.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $99.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.44. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $105.20 and a 52 week high of $129.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $123.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.065 per share. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.