Keudell Morrison Wealth Management Buys New Stake in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Keudell Morrison Wealth Management bought a new stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $745,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,046,000. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 274,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,985,000 after purchasing an additional 27,820 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 150,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,615,000 after purchasing an additional 12,677 shares during the period. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1,118.3% during the 3rd quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 99,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,308,000 after purchasing an additional 91,295 shares during the period. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 49,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,072,000 after purchasing an additional 16,772 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $139.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $143.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $139.07.

Trending Headlines about Duke Energy

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

• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy is being highlighted as a potential beneficiary of surging data center power demand, with Goldman Sachs keeping it on its Conviction List and assigning a Buy rating and $132 price target. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent articles also point to Duke Energy benefiting from long-term AI and data center electricity demand, which could support future generation and rate-base growth. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley lowered its price target on Duke Energy to $132 from $141, though the new target still implies upside and the firm maintained its overall stance. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: North Carolina lawmakers advanced a bill that could delay coal plant retirements until Duke Energy shows progress on replacement nuclear capacity, increasing regulatory scrutiny around the company’s transition strategy. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Duke Energy continued smaller community and workforce-focused grant announcements for veterans in North Carolina and South Carolina, which are positive for reputation but unlikely to move the stock on their own. Article Title

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK opened at $124.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $97.29 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.01. Duke Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $113.39 and a fifty-two week high of $134.49.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $1.065 dividend. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.24%.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, SVP Regis T. Repko sold 962 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.86, for a total value of $123,001.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 3,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $498,142.56. This trade represents a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $2,487,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 24,462 shares of company stock valued at $3,048,426 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.12% 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.