Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Sells 4,557 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC reduced its position in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 19.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 18,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,557 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 5,254.4% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,735,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $358,227,000 after acquiring an additional 2,684,721 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Duke Energy by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,258,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,172,709,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957,592 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Duke Energy by 56.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,662,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $312,067,000 after purchasing an additional 965,808 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,236,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $965,446,000 after purchasing an additional 954,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Milford Funds Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth $97,905,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Key Duke Energy News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy restored electricity to more than 171,000 customers in Greater Cincinnati within 24 hours of severe storms. More than 1,000 additional workers are joining the effort, which could limit prolonged service disruption and reputational damage. Duke Energy restores more than 171,000 outages across Greater Cincinnati
• Positive Sentiment: The restoration progress follows a major outage event that initially affected more than 180,000 customers in Ohio and Kentucky, demonstrating the company’s ability to mobilize crews and begin repairs quickly. More than 160,000 Duke Energy customers remain without power
• Neutral Sentiment: North Carolina regulators are considering Duke Energy’s rate cases, while the company has nearly halved its proposed increase for some Eastern North Carolina and Asheville customers. A lower approved increase could reduce near-term revenue and earnings potential, but a settlement would remove regulatory uncertainty. Duke Energy cuts proposed rate hike
• Neutral Sentiment: Hot weather is driving electricity demand and higher customer bills, while Duke is urging conservation. Increased usage may support revenue, but affordability concerns could intensify regulatory scrutiny. Energy demand spikes as Duke urges customers to cut usage
• Negative Sentiment: Duke priced a $1.75 billion offering of 35 million equity units. Because the units include future purchases of Duke common stock, the transaction introduces potential shareholder dilution and highlights the company’s substantial capital-financing needs. Duke Energy announces pricing of equity units offering
• Negative Sentiment: The Cincinnati storms caused extensive damage, fallen trees and road closures. Although power is being restored, repair and storm-response expenses could pressure near-term cash flow and earnings.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on DUK shares. Evercore upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $139.00 to $140.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $138.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.44.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $123.15 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $96.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.49, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $125.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.50. Duke Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $113.89 and a 1 year high of $134.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.13. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.78% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The business had revenue of $7.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Duke Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.550-6.800 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.085 per share. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. This represents a $4.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.96%.

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.