Willis Investment Counsel Grows Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Willis Investment Counsel lifted its position in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 6.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 160,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,300 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $19,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11,417.7% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,668,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,084,917,000 after acquiring an additional 17,515,383 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,716,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,934,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,783 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 448.9% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 826,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $102,254,000 after purchasing an additional 675,768 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 64.4% in the second quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 1,472,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $173,734,000 after purchasing an additional 576,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 21.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,726,823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $321,765,000 after purchasing an additional 474,325 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Duke Energy from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $126.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $143.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Robert Alexander Glenn sold 8,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total transaction of $1,015,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,367 shares in the company, valued at $1,407,234.60. The trade was a 41.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of DUK opened at $123.66 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $118.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.51. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $110.51 and a 12-month high of $130.03.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.51 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.98% and a net margin of 15.76%.Duke Energy’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $1.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Duke Energy Company Profile

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.