Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Reduces Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reduced its stake in Duke Energy by 45%, selling 770,630 shares, and now owns 0.12% of the company, valued at approximately $114.9 million.
• Despite the sale, several other institutional investors increased their stakes in Duke Energy, with Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosting holdings by 212.8% in the last quarter.
• Duke Energy recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.065, with an annualized yield of 3.5%, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reduced its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 45.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 942,325 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 770,630 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.12% of Duke Energy worth $114,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DUK. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $1,250,133,000 after acquiring an additional 10,192,503 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $702,351,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $592,934,000 after acquiring an additional 2,276,948 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $9,094,327,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 14,268.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,663,183 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $202,858,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651,608 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In related news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,438,843.04. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total value of $832,542.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,768,397.72. This trade represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:DUK traded down $0.60 on Tuesday, reaching $121.89. The company had a trading volume of 2,449,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,543,368. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $105.20 and a 52-week high of $127.85. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $120.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) 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). 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.065 per share. This is a positive change from Duke Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price objective on Duke Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $130.62.

Duke Energy 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.