Vest Financial LLC Increases Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 23.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 32,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,279 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $4,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Duke Energy Stock Down 1.4%

DUK opened at $117.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.50. Duke Energy Corporation has a one year low of $108.68 and a one year high of $130.03. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $118.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a $1.065 dividend. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI started coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $143.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $137.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $143.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $135.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.13.

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.