Orange Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 5,499 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Orange Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 13.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,603 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,499 shares during the period. Orange Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $4,662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,258,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,172,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957,592 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,292,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,266,675,000 after purchasing an additional 230,375 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,931,127 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,046,818,000 after purchasing an additional 58,375 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Duke Energy by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,236,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $965,446,000 after buying an additional 954,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.4% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,758,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $960,139,000 after buying an additional 31,703 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.15, for a total value of $438,025.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,415 shares in the company, valued at $2,680,087.25. This trade represents a 14.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Harry K. Sideris sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.37, for a total transaction of $2,487,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 96,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,952,205.74. The trade was a 17.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their price target on Duke Energy from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $137.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Duke Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $136.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.33.

Key Stories Impacting Duke Energy

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

• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy is being highlighted as a defensive stock in a higher-inflation, higher-rate environment, which can attract income-oriented investors looking for stability and dividends. Buy 4 Defensive Stocks as Inflation Hits Highest Level in 3 Years
• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho reiterated an Outperform rating on Duke Energy, saying it can execute despite near-term regulatory challenges; the firm also maintained a higher price target than the current trading range. Mizuho Says Duke Energy (DUK) Can Execute Despite Near-Term Regulatory Challenges
• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy’s efforts to harden the grid ahead of hurricane season, including “self-healing” upgrades, could support reliability and reduce outage risk over time. Duke Energy prepares for hurricane season with “self-healing” upgrades
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is also being discussed as a high-dividend blue-chip utility, reinforcing its appeal as a steady income name rather than a growth stock. Is Duke Energy (DUK) One of the Best S&P 500 Stocks to Buy for Dividends?
• Negative Sentiment: North Carolina’s attorney general still says Duke’s revised request for an 11.6% rate hike is too high, keeping regulatory pressure front and center for the stock. Duke Energy cuts proposed NC rate hike to 11.6%, still too high, AG says
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh headlines about a lawsuit over Duke’s solar procurement pause and local service disruptions, including an Asheville outage, add to concerns about operations and public scrutiny. Lawsuit targets Duke Energy solar pause that could raise customer bills Power outage hits downtown Asheville; underground equipment damaged: Duke Energy
• Negative Sentiment: Community pushback in places like Clearwater and Swain County over Duke projects suggests continued local resistance that could slow development or raise costs. Clearwater considers replacing Duke Energy with city-owned electric utility Swain property owners express Duke Needmore route concerns

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $128.35 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.39. Duke Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $113.89 and a twelve month high of $134.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.06 billion, a PE ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.06. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 15.49%.The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.71 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 65.24%.

Duke Energy 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.