Financial Partners Group LLC Trims Stock Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Key Points

• Financial Partners Group LLC reduced its stake in Duke Energy by 30.4%, owning 5,760 shares worth approximately $680,000 at the end of Q2.
• Several institutional investors increased their holdings in Duke Energy, with Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. raising its stake by an impressive 338.6% during the first quarter.
• Duke Energy reported $7.51 billion in revenue for the latest quarter, exceeding analyst estimates, but its EPS of $1.25 missed the consensus estimate by $0.04.

Financial Partners Group LLC lessened its holdings in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 30.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 2,516 shares during the period. Financial Partners Group LLC's holdings in Duke Energy were worth $680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 338.6% in the first quarter. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 37,763 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,606,000 after purchasing an additional 29,153 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 7.7% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 291,667 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,575,000 after purchasing an additional 20,942 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9.9% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 127,419 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,451,000 after purchasing an additional 11,445 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 8.1% in the first quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 51,354 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,264,000 after buying an additional 3,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,656,244 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,055,087,000 after buying an additional 93,699 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on DUK shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $127.00 price objective (up previously from $124.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $131.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total value of $248,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,438,843.04. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total transaction of $832,542.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,422 shares of the company's stock, 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. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK stock opened at $122.99 on Friday. Duke Energy Corporation has a one year low of $105.20 and a one year 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $122.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $1.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This is an increase from Duke Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.27%.

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.

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