Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 39,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,185,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Basso Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Dorato Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Duke Energy by 1,111.1% in the 4th quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 68.6% during the 4th quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.0%

DUK stock opened at $128.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.06 billion, a PE ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $124.98 and a 200-day moving average of $124.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. Duke Energy Corporation has a one year low of $113.89 and a one year high of $134.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.76 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.71 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.065 per share. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 65.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Key Headlines Impacting Duke Energy

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

• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy is being highlighted as a defensive stock in a higher-inflation, higher-rate environment, which can attract income-oriented investors looking for stability and dividends. Buy 4 Defensive Stocks as Inflation Hits Highest Level in 3 Years
• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho reiterated an Outperform rating on Duke Energy, saying it can execute despite near-term regulatory challenges; the firm also maintained a higher price target than the current trading range. Mizuho Says Duke Energy (DUK) Can Execute Despite Near-Term Regulatory Challenges
• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy’s efforts to harden the grid ahead of hurricane season, including “self-healing” upgrades, could support reliability and reduce outage risk over time. Duke Energy prepares for hurricane season with “self-healing” upgrades
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is also being discussed as a high-dividend blue-chip utility, reinforcing its appeal as a steady income name rather than a growth stock. Is Duke Energy (DUK) One of the Best S&P 500 Stocks to Buy for Dividends?
• Negative Sentiment: North Carolina’s attorney general still says Duke’s revised request for an 11.6% rate hike is too high, keeping regulatory pressure front and center for the stock. Duke Energy cuts proposed NC rate hike to 11.6%, still too high, AG says
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh headlines about a lawsuit over Duke’s solar procurement pause and local service disruptions, including an Asheville outage, add to concerns about operations and public scrutiny. Lawsuit targets Duke Energy solar pause that could raise customer bills Power outage hits downtown Asheville; underground equipment damaged: Duke Energy
• Negative Sentiment: Community pushback in places like Clearwater and Swain County over Duke projects suggests continued local resistance that could slow development or raise costs. Clearwater considers replacing Duke Energy with city-owned electric utility Swain property owners express Duke Needmore route concerns

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $143.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $139.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. UBS Group dropped their price target on Duke Energy from $137.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $136.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.33.

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.