12 Best S&P 500 Stocks to Buy for Dividends

9. Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 55

Dividend Yield as of June 23: 3.41%

Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) engages in the distribution of natural gas and energy-related services. The company owns and operates a diverse mix of regulated power plants – including hydro, nuclear, solar, battery storage, etc.

On June 11, Barclays analyst Nicholas Campanella lowered the firm’s price target on Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) from $143 to $134, but kept its ‘Overweight’ rating on the shares. The revised target, which still represents an upside of over 8% from the current share price, comes after the analyst had a meeting with the company’s management.

Barclays believes that Duke’s 15 GW data center pipeline is “vetted and executable”. The utility signed 2.7 GW of ESAs with data center customers in the first quarter, bringing its total executed agreements to approximately 7.6 GW. Duke is targeting 6-7 GWs of signed contracts this year.

Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) revealed in its Q1 earnings call that it remains on track to achieve its 2026 earnings guidance range of $6.55 to $6.80 per share. Moreover, the company reaffirmed its long-term target to deliver an EPS growth rate 5% to 7% through 2030.