Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $5.18 Million Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Duke Energy during the first quarter, buying 39,600 shares worth about $5.18 million.
• Duke Energy continues to attract institutional interest, with major investors like Vanguard and Franklin Resources increasing their stakes; institutions and hedge funds now own 65.31% of the company.
• The stock remains supported by solid fundamentals and income appeal: Duke Energy beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, pays a 3.3% dividend yield, and analysts currently rate it a Moderate Buy with a consensus target of $138.33.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 39,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,185,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,258,757 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,172,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957,592 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 56.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,662,460 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $312,067,000 after purchasing an additional 965,808 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,236,893 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $965,446,000 after buying an additional 954,907 shares during the period. Milford Funds Ltd. purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $97,905,000. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 83.3% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 1,711,445 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $200,598,000 after buying an additional 777,878 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Duke Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Duke Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy is being highlighted as a defensive stock in a higher-inflation, higher-rate environment, which can attract income-oriented investors looking for stability and dividends. Buy 4 Defensive Stocks as Inflation Hits Highest Level in 3 Years
• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho reiterated an Outperform rating on Duke Energy, saying it can execute despite near-term regulatory challenges; the firm also maintained a higher price target than the current trading range. Mizuho Says Duke Energy (DUK) Can Execute Despite Near-Term Regulatory Challenges
• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy’s efforts to harden the grid ahead of hurricane season, including “self-healing” upgrades, could support reliability and reduce outage risk over time. Duke Energy prepares for hurricane season with “self-healing” upgrades
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is also being discussed as a high-dividend blue-chip utility, reinforcing its appeal as a steady income name rather than a growth stock. Is Duke Energy (DUK) One of the Best S&P 500 Stocks to Buy for Dividends?
• Negative Sentiment: North Carolina’s attorney general still says Duke’s revised request for an 11.6% rate hike is too high, keeping regulatory pressure front and center for the stock. Duke Energy cuts proposed NC rate hike to 11.6%, still too high, AG says
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh headlines about a lawsuit over Duke’s solar procurement pause and local service disruptions, including an Asheville outage, add to concerns about operations and public scrutiny. Lawsuit targets Duke Energy solar pause that could raise customer bills Power outage hits downtown Asheville; underground equipment damaged: Duke Energy
• Negative Sentiment: Community pushback in places like Clearwater and Swain County over Duke projects suggests continued local resistance that could slow development or raise costs. Clearwater considers replacing Duke Energy with city-owned electric utility Swain property owners express Duke Needmore route concerns

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.15, for a total value of $438,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,680,087.25. This represents a 14.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Harry K. Sideris sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.37, for a total transaction of $2,487,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 96,102 shares in the company, valued at $11,952,205.74. This represents a 17.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $128.35 on Friday. Duke Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $113.89 and a twelve month high of $134.49. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $124.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The company's revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.76 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.065 per share. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of several research reports. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and issued a $139.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $137.00 to $135.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Duke Energy from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $138.33.

Duke Energy Profile

Duke Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based electric power holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company's core business is the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Duke Energy operates a mix of regulated electric utilities and non-regulated energy businesses, providing essential energy infrastructure and services across multiple states.

Its operating activities include owning and operating generation assets across a portfolio that encompasses nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and an expanding array of renewable resources, as well as battery storage and grid modernization projects.

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