Marino Stram & Associates LLC Grows Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 98.1% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the first quarter worth about $27,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 360.0% in the first quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the first quarter worth about $36,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,438,843.04. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was 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 approximately $5,768,397.72. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on DUK shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $127.00 price objective (up previously from $124.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.50.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $123.71 on Wednesday. Duke Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $105.20 and a 1 year high of $127.85. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $96.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $119.57.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.04). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.The firm had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. Analysts predict that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

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

Duke Energy Profile

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.