Apella Capital LLC Buys 7,693 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Apella Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 139.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,693 shares during the quarter. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,292,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,266,675,000 after purchasing an additional 230,375 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Duke Energy by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,931,127 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,046,818,000 after acquiring an additional 58,375 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Duke Energy by 13.1% in 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 stake in shares of 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. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Duke Energy from $143.00 to $134.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $136.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $139.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Nine research 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, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Harry K. Sideris sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.37, for a total transaction of $2,487,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 96,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,952,205.74. This trade represents a 17.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 3,500 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,680,087.25. This trade represents a 14.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.0%

Duke Energy stock opened at $128.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 0.39. 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 Corporation has a twelve month low of $113.89 and a twelve month high of $134.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.32.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 65.24%.

Key Stories Impacting Duke Energy

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

• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy is being highlighted as a defensive stock in a higher-inflation, higher-rate environment, which can attract income-oriented investors looking for stability and dividends. Buy 4 Defensive Stocks as Inflation Hits Highest Level in 3 Years
• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho reiterated an Outperform rating on Duke Energy, saying it can execute despite near-term regulatory challenges; the firm also maintained a higher price target than the current trading range. Mizuho Says Duke Energy (DUK) Can Execute Despite Near-Term Regulatory Challenges
• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy’s efforts to harden the grid ahead of hurricane season, including “self-healing” upgrades, could support reliability and reduce outage risk over time. Duke Energy prepares for hurricane season with “self-healing” upgrades
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is also being discussed as a high-dividend blue-chip utility, reinforcing its appeal as a steady income name rather than a growth stock. Is Duke Energy (DUK) One of the Best S&P 500 Stocks to Buy for Dividends?
• Negative Sentiment: North Carolina’s attorney general still says Duke’s revised request for an 11.6% rate hike is too high, keeping regulatory pressure front and center for the stock. Duke Energy cuts proposed NC rate hike to 11.6%, still too high, AG says
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh headlines about a lawsuit over Duke’s solar procurement pause and local service disruptions, including an Asheville outage, add to concerns about operations and public scrutiny. Lawsuit targets Duke Energy solar pause that could raise customer bills Power outage hits downtown Asheville; underground equipment damaged: Duke Energy
• Negative Sentiment: Community pushback in places like Clearwater and Swain County over Duke projects suggests continued local resistance that could slow development or raise costs. Clearwater considers replacing Duke Energy with city-owned electric utility Swain property owners express Duke Needmore route concerns

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.