Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Has $5.35 Million Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. cut its position in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 13.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 45,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,901 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 17.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,663,000 after acquiring an additional 2,061 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.2% in the first quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 12,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,519,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter worth about $233,000. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter worth about $260,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $141.00 to $134.00 in a research note on Friday, September 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $143.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.08.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total value of $248,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,768,397.72. The trade was a 12.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.7%

DUK opened at $126.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $98.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $123.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $119.88. Duke Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $105.20 and a fifty-two week high of $127.85.

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

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

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

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.