Duke Energy Corporation $DUK Stake Lifted by Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 489,935 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,987 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned 0.06% of Duke Energy worth $64,152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 35.2% during the first quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. now owns 5,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480 shares during the period. Traveka Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $212,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 125.8% in the 1st quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 85,875 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,244,000 after purchasing an additional 47,844 shares in the last quarter. Cambient Family Office LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 43.8% during the first quarter. Cambient Family Office LLC now owns 2,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 749 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9.8% in the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $712,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on DUK. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $139.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Duke Energy from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Evercore raised their target price on Duke Energy from $139.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $136.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Duke Energy from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.33.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.15, for a total transaction of $438,025.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,415 shares in the company, valued at $2,680,087.25. This trade represents a 14.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Harry K. Sideris sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE DUK opened at $128.35 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $113.89 and a 1-year high of $134.49. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.32. The company has a market capitalization of $100.06 billion, a PE ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 0.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 15.49%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.76 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $1.065 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 65.24%.

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.