Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC Sells 784 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 16.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 784 shares during the period. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,562,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,094,327,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676,061 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 17,880.0% during 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 period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.9% during 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.1% during 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 period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 152,542 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on DUK. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $141.00 to $134.00 in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $137.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.25.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $123.58 on Friday. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $105.20 and a 12-month high of $127.85. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $96.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $122.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.62.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. The business’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. Research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $1.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.27%.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other 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 transaction of $248,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,608 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 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 directly owned 46,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,768,397.72. The trade was 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.

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.