T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Buys Shares of 408,930 Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired 408,930 shares of Duke Energy, totaling approximately $49.9 million, representing a 0.05% ownership stake in the company.
• Several analysts have recently increased their price targets for Duke Energy, with Citigroup setting a new target of $142.00 and Wells Fargo adjusting theirs to $138.00, indicating strong investor confidence.
• Duke Energy has announced a quarterly dividend of $1.065 per share, reflecting an increase from the prior amount, with a yield of 3.4% based on the current stock price.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 408,930 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $49,878,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 0.05% of Duke Energy as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 360.0% in the 1st quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 253 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price objective on Duke Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $130.07.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total value of $248,760.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. This trade 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:DUK opened at $124.2140 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $118.35. The stock has a market cap of $96.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.36. Duke Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $105.20 and a 1 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.

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

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is a boost from Duke Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. 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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