Townsend & Associates Inc Cuts Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Townsend & Associates Inc decreased its holdings in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 14.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 32,762 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,705 shares during the quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 17,880.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 10,192,503 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $702,351,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 88.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,276,948 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,676,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 359.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 885,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $143.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $134.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total value 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 $5,768,397.72. The trade was a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total transaction of $248,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,438,843.04. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $128.55 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $123.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.66. Duke Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $105.20 and a fifty-two week high of $129.51. The company has a market capitalization of $99.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.44.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.04). Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The company 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 firm posted $1.18 EPS. 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 forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

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