Sterling Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 125.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 85,875 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,844 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $11,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,825,000 after buying an additional 3,797 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its position in Duke Energy by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 31,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,686,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. increased its position in Duke Energy by 523.4% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 42,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,983,000 after buying an additional 35,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at about $954,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other news, CEO Harry K. Sideris sold 20,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 96,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,952,205.74. The trade was a 17.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.15, for a total transaction of $438,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 21,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,680,087.25. This represents a 14.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $128.35 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $100.06 billion, a PE ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $124.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.32. Duke Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $113.89 and a 1 year high of $134.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on DUK shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $139.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $139.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $139.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Capitol Sec Mgt cut Duke Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Monday, May 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has a consensus 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

About Duke Energy

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.