New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Trims Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,094 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $9,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Bare Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 211.1% in the third quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 2,608.3% during the second quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Regis T. Repko sold 962 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.86, for a total value of $123,001.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 3,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $498,142.56. This trade represents a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 6,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.67, for a total transaction of $868,156.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 22,007 shares in the company, valued at $2,809,633.69. The trade was a 23.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $137.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $126.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $136.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $135.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Mizuho set a $130.00 price target on Duke Energy in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.75.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.2%

DUK stock opened at $130.79 on Friday. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $111.22 and a 12-month high of $131.57. The business’s 50-day moving average is $121.10 and its 200 day moving average is $122.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market cap of $101.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.51.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $7.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.57 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.66% and a net margin of 15.41%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $1.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.41%.

Key Stories Impacting Duke Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Duke Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Nuclear/ratings lift: analysts and commentators are highlighting gains in Duke’s nuclear positioning and a positive reframing of its nuclear strategy, which supports capacity reliability and long‑term earnings visibility. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $139 (maintained Equal Weight), signalling modest analyst upside that can prompt buying. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Policy/revenue angle: Duke’s CEO publicly backed the administration’s push to make data centers “pay their fair share,” which could translate into higher utility revenues from large AI/data workloads over time. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Clean‑energy rollout: company expansion of solar, battery storage, microgrids and virtual power‑plant incentives supports future growth, resilience and regulatory goodwill. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Relative performance context: Duke has slightly underperformed peers recently, but analysts remain moderately optimistic — useful context for positioning but not an immediate catalyst. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Inclusion in dividend/utility stock roundups raises investor interest (income appeal) but is not an immediate earnings driver. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: filings show senior executives (including SVP Regis T. Repko) sold shares recently; recurring insider reductions can spook investors even if sales are small. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Customer/billing issues: Greater Cincinnati customers reported unexpectedly higher bills tied to a recent billing issue (and a $14M error reported elsewhere), raising near‑term regulatory and reputational risk. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/cost‑recovery change: Duke will replace a ‘gas cost recovery’ charge with a ‘standard service offer’ in at least one territory — could change how fuel costs are passed through and affect short‑term cash flows. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Rising short interest: short interest has increased meaningfully in February, which raises downside pressure and potential volatility around upcoming catalysts. Read More.

About Duke Energy

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.