Southeast Asset Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Key Points

• Southeast Asset Advisors LLC has acquired a new stake in Duke Energy Corporation, purchasing 4,875 shares valued at around $595,000 in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have increased their holdings in Duke Energy, with Vanguard Group Inc. owning 74.56 million shares, and GQG Partners LLC seeing a dramatic increase of 17,880% in their stake.
• Duke Energy recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.065 per share, up from the previous $1.05, reflecting a yield of 3.4% and demonstrating continued financial strength.

Southeast Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,875 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $595,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 360.0% during the first quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 253 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total value of $832,542.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DUK. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $127.00 price target (up from $124.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $130.07.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK traded down $1.18 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $122.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,495,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,558,506. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $105.20 and a 12 month high of $127.85. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $120.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $118.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $95.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.36.

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). Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The company had revenue of $7.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. The business'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, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.065 per share. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. 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. Duke Energy's payout ratio is currently 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.