Keudell Morrison Wealth Management Makes New Investment in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Keudell Morrison Wealth Management bought a new stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $745,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,258,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,172,709,000 after buying an additional 1,957,592 shares in the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $86,309,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 447.3% in the fourth quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 513,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,235,000 after buying an additional 420,005 shares in the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 19.1% in the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 2,613,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $323,432,000 after buying an additional 419,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 178.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 505,891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,376,000 after buying an additional 323,991 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,680,087.25. This trade represents a 14.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Regis T. Repko sold 962 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.86, for a total value of $123,001.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 3,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $498,142.56. This trade represents a 19.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 24,462 shares of company stock valued at $3,048,426 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of DUK opened at $124.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $97.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.11 and a beta of 0.41. Duke Energy Corporation has a one year low of $113.39 and a one year high of $134.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $128.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.01.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 15.49%.Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.76 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.065 per share. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Duke Energy from $141.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Duke Energy from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Mizuho increased their target price on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Duke Energy from $139.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.07.

Key Duke Energy News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy is being highlighted as a potential beneficiary of surging data center power demand, with Goldman Sachs keeping it on its Conviction List and assigning a Buy rating and $132 price target. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent articles also point to Duke Energy benefiting from long-term AI and data center electricity demand, which could support future generation and rate-base growth. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley lowered its price target on Duke Energy to $132 from $141, though the new target still implies upside and the firm maintained its overall stance. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: North Carolina lawmakers advanced a bill that could delay coal plant retirements until Duke Energy shows progress on replacement nuclear capacity, increasing regulatory scrutiny around the company’s transition strategy. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Duke Energy continued smaller community and workforce-focused grant announcements for veterans in North Carolina and South Carolina, which are positive for reputation but unlikely to move the stock on their own. Article Title

Duke Energy 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.