Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Grows Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 158.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 662,844 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 406,102 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned 0.09% of Duke Energy worth $86,793,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 worth $9,172,709,000 after buying an additional 1,957,592 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,292,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,266,675,000 after purchasing an additional 230,375 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,931,127 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,046,818,000 after purchasing an additional 58,375 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,236,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $965,446,000 after purchasing an additional 954,907 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,758,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $960,139,000 after buying an additional 31,703 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $137.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Duke Energy from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $139.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $139.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Ten research 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.62.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $130.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $101.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.38. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $125.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.79. Duke Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $113.89 and a fifty-two week 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. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 15.49%.The company had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.76 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $1.085 dividend. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.24%.

Key Duke Energy News

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

• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp reiterated an Overweight rating on Duke Energy and raised its longer-term earnings outlook, nudging up FY2027, FY2028, and FY2029 EPS estimates. The firm also kept a $139 price target, suggesting confidence in Duke’s earnings growth trajectory.
• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy unveiled its Customer Protection Plus framework, designed to support rapid data center-driven power demand while aiming to deliver billions in customer savings. Investors may view this as a constructive way to monetize infrastructure growth without triggering excessive pushback from customers. Duke Energy (DUK) Unveils Customer Savings Plan To Back Data Center Growth
• Positive Sentiment: The company also announced a higher quarterly dividend, reinforcing Duke Energy’s appeal as an income stock and helping attract dividend-focused investors. Can Duke Energy (DUK) Justify Its Price As Its Higher Dividend Draws Attention?
• Neutral Sentiment: North Carolina leaders and regulators are pressuring Duke Energy to make its federal data-center pledge legally binding. This could support accountability and customer trust, but it also raises regulatory scrutiny around future growth plans.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory criticism of Duke’s proposed rate increases remains a headwind, with North Carolina’s attorney general saying the lowered request is still too high. That could add pressure to future profitability if rate approvals become more difficult.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $438,025.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,680,087.25. This represents a 14.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.