Top 5 Electric Utility Dividend Stocks To Buy

3. Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 36

Dividend Yield (as of May 12): 3.65%

Up next is Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK), an energy firm based in North Carolina which distributes electricity generated from coal, natural gas, hydroelectric, nuclear fuel and renewable generation such as wind and solar to millions of customers in the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. It also provides natural gas transmission and storage services.

On April 25, Credit Suisse analyst Nicholas Campanella initiated coverage of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) with an ‘Outperform’ rating and a $125 price target. The analyst sees the firm well-positioned on the two core themes of decarbonization rate-of-change and inflation, and sees its size and diverse geographical footprint benefiting it as compared to peers.

Investors were seen snapping up on Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) shares at the end of the fourth quarter, with 36 hedge funds reporting bullish bets on the company shares. This is in comparison to 32 hedge funds a quarter ago. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies held 1.74 million shares of the firm valued at $183.2 million, making it the largest shareholder of the firm at the close of Q4 2021.

Duke Energy Corporation’s (NYSE:DUK) revenue for Q1 2022 stood at $7.13 billion, up 15.97% from the year-ago quarter and beating estimates by roughly $808 million. EPS was recorded at $1.30, falling slightly below estimates by $0.03.