Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Has $128.74 Million Stock Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Key Points

• Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its stake in Duke Energy Corporation by 131.9%, acquiring an additional 600,271 shares, totaling over $128 million at the end of the last reporting period.
• Insider trading revealed that two executives, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie and SVP Bonnie B. Titone, sold shares of Duke Energy, reducing their ownership stakes by 12.61% and 9.26%, respectively.
• Duke Energy announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.065 per share, reflecting a yield of 3.5%, up from the previous dividend of $1.05.

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 131.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,055,482 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 600,271 shares during the period. Duke Energy makes up approximately 1.0% of Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI owned 0.14% of Duke Energy worth $128,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,676,061 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 17,880.0% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,249,508 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,250,133,000 after acquiring an additional 10,192,503 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,921,517 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,088,158,000 after acquiring an additional 418,014 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 93,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.9% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,153,615 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $994,496,000 after acquiring an additional 152,542 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,768,397.72. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 target price on Duke Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $127.00 target price (up previously from $124.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $130.62.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Duke Energy stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $121.96. 2,136,379 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,488,922. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $105.20 and a 52 week 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. The firm has a market cap of $94.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $121.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.11.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.04). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.The business had revenue of $7.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. On average, analysts expect 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 will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $1.065 dividend. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is an increase from Duke Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.