IFM Investors Pty Ltd Raises Stock Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Key Points

• IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its stake in Duke Energy Corporation by 8.6%, acquiring an additional 14,522 shares, bringing their total holdings to 184,348 shares valued at approximately $21.75 million.
• Duke Energy recently announced a quarterly dividend increase from $1.05 to $1.065 per share, indicating a strong annualized yield of 3.5%.
• The company reported a miss in earnings per share at $1.25, below the consensus estimate of $1.29, alongside revenue growth of 4.7% year-over-year.

IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 8.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 184,348 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,522 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Duke Energy were worth $21,753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at about $61,000. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Duke Energy during the second quarter worth about $75,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 170.7% during the second quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 2,656 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 1,675 shares in the last quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.4% during the second quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 140,792 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $16,613,000 after buying an additional 1,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 6.3% during the second quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 283,064 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $33,402,000 after buying an additional 16,727 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DUK. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $130.62.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $832,542.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total transaction of $248,760.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of DUK stock traded up $0.63 on Monday, hitting $121.71. 2,033,447 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,473,825. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.39. 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's fifty day simple moving average is $121.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.34.

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). The firm had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.Duke Energy's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

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

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.