Nordea Investment Management AB Lowers Stake in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Nordea Investment Management AB lowered its stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 733,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 278,932 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $85,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 17,880.0% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,249,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,250,133,000 after buying an additional 10,192,503 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $702,351,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 88.1% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,861,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $592,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,276,948 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.3% during the 1st 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. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 359.1% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,132,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $138,145,000 after purchasing an additional 885,900 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on DUK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Scotiabank set a $137.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $143.00 target price on the stock. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.77.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $128.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $99.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.44. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $105.20 and a 12-month high of $129.51. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.13.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.Duke Energy’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 69.27%.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other 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 transaction of $248,760.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were 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 $5,768,397.72. The trade was a 12.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Company Profile

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.