Liberty Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Liberty Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 5.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Toth Financial Advisory Corp increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 31.6% during the first quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 346 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.8% during the first quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 1,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.8% during the first quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Lokken Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sheets Smith Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 27,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,356,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on DUK shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $141.00 to $134.00 in a report on Friday, September 26th. Barclays increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Duke Energy in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.50.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $123.71 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market cap of $96.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.57. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $105.20 and a 12-month high of $127.85.

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

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $1.065 dividend. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.27%.

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.