National Pension Service Has $268.86 Million Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 1.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,124,004 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,835 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $268,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 125.2% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 40,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,141,000 after buying an additional 22,578 shares in the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 27.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,168,000 after buying an additional 1,981 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $609,000. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $606,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 45.5% during the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 47,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,980,000 after acquiring an additional 14,784 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Duke Energy from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 17th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Duke Energy from $140.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Mizuho set a $136.00 target price on Duke Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.94.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $120.44 on Thursday. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $113.89 and a 12-month high of $134.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.66 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.78% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $1.085 dividend. This represents a $4.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.17%.

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy Corporation is an electric and natural gas utility holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, with a generation portfolio that includes natural gas, nuclear, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources. It also operates natural gas distribution businesses and provides related energy services.

Duke Energy’s regulated electric utilities serve residential, commercial and industrial customers across the Carolinas, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.