Woodline Partners LP Grows Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in Duke Energy Corporation by 41.3%, owning a total of 65,560 shares valued at approximately $7.996 million after acquiring an additional 19,169 shares.
• Analysts have reacted positively to Duke Energy's stock, with target price increases from several firms, including Barclays and BMO Capital Markets, forecasting continued growth.
• Duke Energy announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.065 per share, reflecting a 3.5% yield, and demonstrating the company's commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 41.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 65,560 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 19,169 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP's holdings in Duke Energy were worth $7,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 131.9% during the 1st quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,055,482 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $128,737,000 after purchasing an additional 600,271 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 42,343 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,095,000 after purchasing an additional 659 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,162 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,825,000 after purchasing an additional 3,797 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $323,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.1%

Duke Energy stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $121.96. The stock had a trading volume of 2,136,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,397,248. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $105.20 and a 52-week high of $127.85. The firm has a market cap of $94.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $121.42 and a 200 day moving average of $119.16.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.07 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.065 per share. This is a boost from Duke Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Duke Energy's payout ratio is 69.27%.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,438,843.04. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $832,542.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $130.62.

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.