Aberdeen Group plc Buys 17,977 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Duke Energy by 5.0%, owning 381,116 shares valued at approximately $46.24 million.
• Duke Energy recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.065 per share, yielding approximately 3.5%, which will be paid on September 16th.
• The company reported a miss on earnings with $1.25 EPS for the quarter, falling short of analyst expectations, despite a revenue increase to $7.51 billion.

Aberdeen Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 381,116 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 17,977 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc's holdings in Duke Energy were worth $46,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Duke Energy by 2.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,939,782 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $236,552,000 after purchasing an additional 48,052 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 4.4% in the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 15,178 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,851,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 2.2% in the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 38,811 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,734,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the period. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 2.6% in the first quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 92,864 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,327,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356 shares during the period. Finally, FCA Corp TX lifted its position in Duke Energy by 2.2% in the first quarter. FCA Corp TX now owns 9,621 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,768,397.72. This trade represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE DUK traded up $0.8810 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $124.6610. The company had a trading volume of 2,140,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,590,794. Duke Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $105.20 and a twelve month high of $127.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.94 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.36. The stock's 50 day moving average is $119.34 and its 200-day moving average is $118.15.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.The company had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company 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, equities analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Duke Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $127.00 price objective (up previously from $124.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price objective on Duke Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $129.80.

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.