Quent Capital LLC Raises Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 25.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,749 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the quarter. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,562,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,094,327,000 after purchasing an additional 1,676,061 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 17,880.0% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,249,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,250,133,000 after purchasing an additional 10,192,503 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.9% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,921,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,088,158,000 after purchasing an additional 418,014 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,656,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,055,087,000 after purchasing an additional 93,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.9% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,153,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $994,496,000 after purchasing an additional 152,542 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total transaction of $832,542.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,768,397.72. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total value of $248,760.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,438,843.04. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $123.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $122.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.44. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $105.20 and a 52-week high of $127.85.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $7.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.065 per share. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 69.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on DUK shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price target on Duke Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.25.

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest.