Pathfinder Wealth Consulting Inc. Invests $955,000 in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Pathfinder Wealth Consulting Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 8,149 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $955,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,258,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,172,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957,592 shares during the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $86,309,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 447.3% in the 4th quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 513,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,235,000 after purchasing an additional 420,005 shares during the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 2,613,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $323,432,000 after purchasing an additional 419,992 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 178.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 505,891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,376,000 after purchasing an additional 323,991 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK stock opened at $125.78 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $128.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.02. The company has a market capitalization of $98.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.26 and a beta of 0.41. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $113.39 and a 52-week high of $134.49. 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 quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.71 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 65.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on DUK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $139.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $141.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $143.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.07.

Key Stories Impacting Duke Energy

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

• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy is being viewed as a potential beneficiary of surging power demand from data centers, which could support future generation growth and regulated utility investment opportunities. Why Duke Energy (DUK) Is Becoming a Data Center Power Demand Play
• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs reiterated its bullish view by keeping Duke Energy on its Conviction List and assigning a $132 target, signaling confidence in regulatory progress and the company’s expansion plans. Why Duke Energy (DUK) Is Becoming a Data Center Power Demand Play
• Positive Sentiment: Utility-sector demand tailwinds linked to AI infrastructure are also supporting sentiment toward Duke Energy and other dividend-paying utilities. These 3 Utility Stocks Have Been Paying Dividends for Decades and AI Data Centers Just Made Them More Valuable
• Neutral Sentiment: North Carolina lawmakers moved to require approval for replacement nuclear capacity before Duke can retire coal plants, which could slow the company’s transition plans but may also protect near-term generation reliability and earnings visibility. North Carolina lawmakers just moved to block Duke Energy from closing coal plants until new nuclear is approved to replace every lost megawatt
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley cut its price target on Duke Energy to $132 from $141 while maintaining an Equalweight rating, a modestly softer analyst signal but still above the recent share price. Morgan Stanley adjusts price target on Duke Energy to 132 from 141
• Neutral Sentiment: Other items, including local outage and customer-service updates, appear operational in nature and are unlikely to materially affect the stock. Power restored for Duke Energy customers in Sullivan County

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, CEO Harry K. Sideris sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.37, for a total transaction of $2,487,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 96,102 shares in the company, valued at $11,952,205.74. This represents a 17.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.15, for a total transaction of $438,025.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 21,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,680,087.25. This trade represents a 14.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 24,462 shares of company stock worth $3,048,426 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Company 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.