Great Lakes Advisors LLC Takes $100.59 Million Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 794,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $100,586,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of DUK. Basso Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1,111.1% in the fourth quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 68.6% in the 4th quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $137.00 to $135.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, July 31st. KeyCorp raised Duke Energy from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $139.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Evercore boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $139.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.25.

More Duke Energy News

Here are the key news stories impacting Duke Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Duke executives are highlighting significant capital-spending upside from accelerating data-center demand. New generation and grid investments could expand Duke’s rate base and support long-term earnings growth. Utility Business Notes: Duke Executives Quantify Data Center Capex Upside
• Positive Sentiment: Duke’s South Carolina resource plan is designed to meet rising electricity demand from population growth, new employers and industrial investment while balancing reliability and customer costs. The plan could create future infrastructure and rate-base growth. Duke Energy’s resource plan builds on work already underway
• Positive Sentiment: Duke is appealing a South Carolina decision that rejected a requested rate increase under a new regulatory program. A successful appeal could improve revenue recovery and earnings, although the outcome remains uncertain. Duke Energy appeals to SC Supreme Court
• Neutral Sentiment: North Carolina regulators may introduce special tariffs for data centers next year. Charging large users more could protect other customers and improve cost recovery, but higher power costs could slow data-center expansion or reduce demand growth. Data centers may face new tariffs next year
• Neutral Sentiment: Duke restored power to more than 340,000 customers after a rare derecho in Greater Cincinnati, with 85% of outages addressed within 48 hours. The response demonstrates operational execution, though severe-weather restoration can increase costs. Duke Energy thanks Greater Cincinnati customers
• Neutral Sentiment: Duke’s foundation is investing $175,000 in South Carolina downtown and community revitalization projects. The program supports local relations but is not financially material to the company. Duke Energy Foundation launches Main Street Revitalization grant program
• Negative Sentiment: More than 10,000 customers remained without power after severe thunderstorms in western North Carolina and the Upstate, following an earlier report of more than 12,000 outages. Extended disruptions may lead to restoration expenses and customer dissatisfaction. Duke Energy outage report
• Negative Sentiment: High electricity bills among Triangle-area residents are generating increased scrutiny. Affordability concerns could intensify political and regulatory opposition to future rate increases and limit Duke’s ability to pass through infrastructure costs. Why are Duke Energy bills so high for Triangle residents?

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:DUK opened at $123.98 on Wednesday. Duke Energy Corporation has a one year low of $113.89 and a one year high of $134.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $96.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.64.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.66 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.78% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The company’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.085 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 65.17%.

Duke Energy Company Profile

Duke Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based electric power holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company’s core business is the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Duke Energy operates a mix of regulated electric utilities and non-regulated energy businesses, providing essential energy infrastructure and services across multiple states.

Its operating activities include owning and operating generation assets across a portfolio that encompasses nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and an expanding array of renewable resources, as well as battery storage and grid modernization projects.