Venture Visionary Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Venture Visionary Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 5.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 353 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 98.1% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 360.0% during the first quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $123.71 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $96.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.39. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $105.20 and a 12 month high of $127.85. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $122.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The business had revenue of $7.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. Duke Energy’s quarterly 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. Research analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share 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 given a $1.065 dividend. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 69.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $141.00 to $134.00 in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Barclays upped their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,438,843.04. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total transaction of $832,542.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,768,397.72. This trade represents a 12.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.