Cohen Klingenstein LLC Buys New Shares in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Cohen Klingenstein LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 16,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,051,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,292,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,266,675,000 after purchasing an additional 230,375 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.7% in 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. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 13.1% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.4% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,758,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $960,139,000 after purchasing an additional 31,703 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Utilities could benefit from rising electricity demand tied to the rapid expansion of artificial-intelligence data centers. The trend supports Duke Energy’s long-term generation and grid-investment opportunity, although the referenced article focuses on utility ETFs rather than DUK specifically. Utility ETFs to Buy as Rapid AI Buildout Sparks Energy Crisis
• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy has restored most power after severe storms in Greater Cincinnati, with nearly 223,000 outages addressed and crews working to restore the remaining customers. Faster restoration limits prolonged service disruption and reputational damage. Duke Energy restores 85% of Greater Cincinnati outages
• Neutral Sentiment: The Duke Energy Foundation announced $500,000 for North Carolina small-business programs and emergency grants for storm recovery in Ohio and Kentucky. The initiatives may support community relations but are not financially material to DUK. Duke Energy invests $500,000 to help small businesses
• Negative Sentiment: Duke Energy completed the sale of 40 million equity units. The financing provides capital for infrastructure and growth, but the additional equity can dilute existing shareholders and signals substantial funding needs. Duke Energy Completes Major Equity Units Financing Offering
• Negative Sentiment: North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson is challenging a proposed 6.8% residential rate increase and rejecting the related settlement. Regulatory opposition raises uncertainty over Duke’s ability to recover costs and earn its targeted returns. AG Jeff Jackson rejects Duke Energy settlement
• Negative Sentiment: A proposed Duke Energy plant is drawing opposition in Davie and Davidson counties, creating potential permitting, construction and political obstacles. More than 2,000 customers also remained without power during severe storms, highlighting near-term reliability and restoration costs. Duke Energy plant proposal draws opposition

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on DUK shares. Evercore upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $139.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Duke Energy from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Duke Energy from $137.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Duke Energy from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $139.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.44.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK opened at $123.83 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.53. The company has a market capitalization of $96.55 billion, a PE ratio of 18.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.38. Duke Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $113.89 and a 1 year high of $134.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.13. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 15.78%.The firm had revenue of $7.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.72 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.085 per share. This is a positive change 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 of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 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.