Waycross Partners LLC Acquires New Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Key Points

• Waycross Partners LLC acquired a new stake of 3,061 shares in Duke Energy Corporation, valued at approximately $361,000, during the second quarter.
• Several institutional investors, such as Vanguard Group and GQG Partners, have increased their holdings in Duke Energy, indicating growing confidence in the company's stability.
• Duke Energy recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.065 per share, raising its annualized dividend yield to 3.5%, reflecting the company's commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Waycross Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,061 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $361,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,562,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,094,327,000 after buying an additional 1,676,061 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 17,880.0% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,249,508 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,250,133,000 after buying an additional 10,192,503 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,921,517 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,088,158,000 after buying an additional 418,014 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the 1st 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 buying an additional 93,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,153,615 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $994,496,000 after buying an additional 152,542 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the 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 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 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 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on DUK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $127.00 target price (up from $124.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $130.62.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $123.01 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $121.99 and a 200-day moving average of $119.40. The firm has a market cap of $95.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.39. Duke Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $105.20 and a twelve month high of $127.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.The company's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $1.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is an increase from Duke Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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