HORAN Wealth LLC Increases Stake in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

HORAN Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 209.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,015 shares during the quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 11,417.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 17,515,383 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,716,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,934,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,783 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 448.9% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 826,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $102,254,000 after purchasing an additional 675,768 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 64.4% during the 2nd quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 1,472,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $173,734,000 after purchasing an additional 576,674 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 21.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,726,823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $321,765,000 after buying an additional 474,325 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on DUK shares. Barclays reduced their target price on Duke Energy from $135.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $141.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $143.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.50.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK stock opened at $122.21 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $118.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.58. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $110.51 and a 52-week high of $130.03.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.98% and a net margin of 15.76%.The company had revenue of $8.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a $1.065 dividend. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Robert Alexander Glenn sold 8,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total transaction of $1,015,160.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,407,234.60. This represents a 41.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.