Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. Grows Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 871 shares during the period. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 17,880.0% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,249,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,250,133,000 after buying an additional 10,192,503 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth $702,351,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 88.1% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,861,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $592,934,000 after acquiring an additional 2,276,948 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,562,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,094,327,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 359.1% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,132,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,145,000 after acquiring an additional 885,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,438,843.04. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president owned 46,422 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on DUK. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $143.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $143.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.36.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE DUK opened at $127.41 on Friday. Duke Energy Corporation has a one year low of $105.20 and a one year high of $130.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.07 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.44.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $7.51 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.065 per share. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 69.27%.

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.