Liberty One Investment Management LLC Has $30.38 Million Stock Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Liberty One Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 13.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 232,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 27,012 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy accounts for approximately 3.1% of Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $30,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DUK. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 19.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,825,000 after acquiring an additional 3,797 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.0% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 31,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,686,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the period. AXA S.A. increased its position in Duke Energy by 523.4% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 42,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,983,000 after acquiring an additional 35,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the second quarter valued at $954,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy said data center growth should create billions of dollars in long-term customer savings and support responsible system expansion, reinforcing a constructive demand outlook for the utility. Duke Energy: Data center growth will deliver billions of dollars of customer savings
• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy received its first advanced gas turbine, which should help it generate electricity more efficiently and support reliability and future capacity needs. Duke Energy receives first advanced gas turbine to generate electricity more efficiently
• Neutral Sentiment: Florida officials are moving toward extending Duke Energy’s service territory for decades, which may improve long-term visibility but does not appear to be an immediate earnings catalyst. As electric bills rise, Florida officials move toward 30 more years with Duke Energy
• Neutral Sentiment: A local outage in east Durham affected more than 2,000 customers during heavy rain, highlighting operational disruptions but likely having limited financial impact. More than 2,000 without power in east Durham amid heavy rain: Duke Energy
• Negative Sentiment: North Carolina’s attorney general said Duke Energy’s reduced rate increase is still too high, keeping regulatory pressure on the company’s pricing plans. NC attorney general says Duke Energy’s lowered rate increase is still too high
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of a stakeholder agreement cutting the residential rate increase to 9.5% suggest Duke may get less pricing relief than it initially sought. Duke Energy-stakeholder agreement pares down residential rate increase to 9.5% for 2 years

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Monday, May 4th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $137.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $138.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In related news, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 3,500 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.15, for a total transaction of $438,025.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 21,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,680,087.25. The trade was a 14.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Harry K. Sideris sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.37, for a total transaction of $2,487,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 96,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,952,205.74. This represents a 17.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.1%

DUK stock opened at $129.29 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $125.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.75. The stock has a market cap of $100.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. Duke Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $113.89 and a twelve month high of $134.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.06. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The company had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.72 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $1.085 dividend. This represents a $4.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.24%.

About Duke Energy

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.