California State Teachers Retirement System Buys 113,835,227 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 12,624.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 114,736,922 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 113,835,227 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.15% of Duke Energy worth $14,523,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 2,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 58.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,767,000 after buying an additional 8,095 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 18.9% in the 2nd quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC now owns 9,606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,216,000 after buying an additional 1,527 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 6.3% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 17,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,161,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015 shares during the period. Finally, Kintra Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 78.7% during the second quarter. Kintra Wealth LLC now owns 5,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $722,000 after acquiring an additional 2,556 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Duke Energy from $138.00 to $133.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Evercore lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $139.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. KeyCorp upgraded Duke Energy from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $139.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.94.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of DUK stock opened at $120.11 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.37. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $113.89 and a 12-month high of $134.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $124.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.66 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 15.78%.The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $1.085 dividend. This represents a $4.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 65.17%.

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.