SouthState Corp Has $5.47 Million Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

SouthState Corp cut its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 18,036 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 9.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 108,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,520,000 after buying an additional 9,334 shares during the period. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,888,000. PrairieView Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $501,000. Marshall Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 158.9% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 8,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 5,206 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Duke Energy by 1.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,203,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $116,431,000 after purchasing an additional 16,735 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on DUK shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. KeyCorp downgraded Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.85.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK opened at $113.57 on Tuesday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $88.27 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $87.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $115.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.43.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

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.