Abacus Planning Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its holdings in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 98.1% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 360.0% in the first quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, 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. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $121.57 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $122.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.59. 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 current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $94.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.44.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) 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). Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The firm had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue 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, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $1.065 dividend. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 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.