Duke Energy Corporation $DUK Stake Lifted by Ameriflex Group Inc.

Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 8.0% during the first quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,717 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 5.2% during the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,278 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 6.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 3,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Breakwater Capital Group lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 30.2% during the first quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 3,882 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were 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 $2,438,843.04. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total transaction of $832,542.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,768,397.72. The trade was a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.7%

DUK stock opened at $123.58 on Friday. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $105.20 and a 12-month high of $127.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company has a market cap of $96.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a 50 day moving average of $122.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $119.61.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.04). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.The company had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on DUK. Scotiabank set a $137.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $132.25.

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.