Hennessy Advisors Inc. Acquires 2,500 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 2.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 114,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $13,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 15.1% during the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 3,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 7.0% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 215,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,405,000 after purchasing an additional 14,036 shares in the last quarter. Corundum Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.7% during the second quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 9,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 14.0% during the second quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 13,953 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.4% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 28,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,359,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $141.00 to $134.00 in a report on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 target price on Duke Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Scotiabank set a $137.00 target price on Duke Energy and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.25.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $123.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.61. The stock has a market cap of $96.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.44. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $105.20 and a 52 week high of $127.85.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued 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 company had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.065 per share. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.27%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total transaction of $248,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the firm’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 value of $832,542.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,768,397.72. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

About Duke Energy

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.