Kozak & Associates Inc. Acquires 1,675 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 170.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,656 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,675 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 17,880.0% in 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 buying an additional 10,192,503 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $702,351,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 88.1% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,861,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $592,934,000 after acquiring an additional 2,276,948 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Duke Energy by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,562,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,094,327,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 14,268.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,663,183 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $202,858,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651,608 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price target on Duke Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $127.00 target price (up from $124.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.62.

Insider Activity

In other Duke Energy news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total value of $248,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total value of $832,542.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,768,397.72. This trade represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $120.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.66. Duke Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $105.20 and a fifty-two week high of $127.85. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.25. The company has a market capitalization of $93.66 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.04). Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The firm had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $1.065 per share. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.27%.

Duke Energy 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.