Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Acquires 1,733 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its holdings in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 4.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 37,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,733 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $4,462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.8% during the first quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 1,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Lokken Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.3% during the first quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% during the first quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 27,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,356,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Grandview Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.6% during the first quarter. Grandview Asset Management LLC now owns 14,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,724,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Creek Financial Management LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.7% during the first quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the firm’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 directly owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,438,843.04. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 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 owned 46,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,768,397.72. This trade 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 company insiders.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $124.68 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $96.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.44. Duke Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $105.20 and a twelve 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 50 day moving average of $122.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $119.77.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 69.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $143.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.08.

Duke Energy Company 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.