Childress Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Childress Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 39.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,298 shares during the period. Childress Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 1,676,061 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased 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 buying an additional 10,192,503 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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 buying an additional 418,014 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.9% in 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 in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays upped their price target on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $141.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price target on Duke Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.50.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.7%

DUK opened at $123.71 on Wednesday. Duke Energy Corporation has a one year low of $105.20 and a one year high of $127.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $122.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released 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). Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The business had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $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, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.065 per share. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 69.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was 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 trade represents 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 corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Company Profile

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.