Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 6,901 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Key Points

• Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its shareholding in Duke Energy Corporation by 13.2%, selling 6,901 shares and bringing its total to 45,343 shares valued at approximately $5.35 million.
• Duke Energy's stock has received various ratings upgrades, with Evercore ISI setting an "outperform" rating and a price target of $143.00, while Jefferies Financial Group downgraded its rating from "buy" to "hold" with a decreased price target of $134.00.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.065 per share, translating to a dividend yield of 3.4% and a payout ratio of 69.27%.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 13.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,343 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 6,901 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 7.7% during the 1st 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 position in Duke Energy by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 127,419 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,451,000 after acquiring an additional 11,445 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 8.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,837 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 93,699 shares during the period. Finally, Resolution Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 7.6% during the first quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd now owns 59,995 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,318,000 after acquiring an additional 4,255 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on DUK. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Monday, October 6th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $143.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Duke Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $141.00 to $134.00 in a report on Friday, September 26th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $134.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total transaction of $832,542.00. Following the sale, 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 currently owned by insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $126.88 on Monday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $123.06 and its 200-day moving average is $119.88. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $105.20 and a 52-week 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 market cap of $98.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.44.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.04). Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The business had revenue of $7.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. Duke Energy's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders 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 was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.27%.

About Duke Energy

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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