Bessemer Group Inc. Raises Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,241,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,787 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned 0.16% of Duke Energy worth $146,489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DUK. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 10,192,503 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $702,351,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 88.1% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,861,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $592,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,276,948 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,676,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 359.1% during the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,132,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $138,145,000 after purchasing an additional 885,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on DUK shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $134.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Duke Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.36.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $127.41 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $99.07 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.50. Duke Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $105.20 and a 1-year high of $130.03.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $7.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.07 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $1.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 69.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,438,843.04. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 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. 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.