Duke Energy (DUK) Stock Today: Nuclear Bets, Rate Hikes, Dividends and 2026 Outlook

Updated: December 7, 2025

Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK) has quietly become one of the most watched U.S. utility stocks heading into 2026. Strong earnings, surging power demand from AI data centers, a massive grid‑upgrade plan and fresh nuclear ambitions are all colliding with political pushback over rate hikes and a heavy capital bill.

Here’s a detailed look at the latest news, analyst forecasts and fundamental trends shaping Duke Energy stock right now.

DUK stock snapshot as of early December 2025

Recent share price: around $116.5 per share after Friday’s close, with intraday trading on December 6 hovering in the mid‑$116 range. ^[1]
52‑week range: roughly $105–$130, keeping DUK below its recent high but well above its 12‑month low. ^[2]
Performance: the stock is still up about 11% year to date and roughly 9% over the past 12 months, building on strong 3‑ and 5‑year gains of about 34% and 59%, respectively. ^[3]
Dividend yield: Duke currently pays a quarterly dividend of $1.065 per share, or $4.26 annually, implying a yield of roughly 3.6% at current prices. The company has now paid a cash dividend for 99 consecutive years. ^[4]

That combination of defensive income and multi‑year share gains is a big reason DUK keeps showing up on “safe dividend” lists, including Goldman Sachs’ own Conviction List of high‑yielding names. ^[5]

Fresh headlines: what changed for Duke Energy this week

1. Big institutional investors reshuffle their DUK exposure

New SEC filings released December 7 show several major institutions adjusting their stakes in Duke Energy:

Amundi cut its Duke position by 15.6% in Q2, selling 389,235 shares and ending the period with about 2.10 million shares worth roughly $246 million, or about 0.27% of the company. ^[6]
California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) reduced its holdings by 14.7%, selling 507,514 shares and finishing the quarter with 2.95 million shares valued around $348 million, roughly 0.38% of Duke’s equity. ^[7]
Bollard Group LLC, by contrast, raised its position by 9.8% to 228,300 shares, worth about $26.9 million, making Duke its 21st‑largest holding. ^[8]

Across these filings, institutional and hedge‑fund ownership of Duke sits near 65% of the float, reinforcing its status as a core blue‑chip utility holding. ^[9]

Insider activity is also in the mix: Executive Vice President Robert Alexander Glenn recently sold 8,200 shares at an average price around $123.80, leaving him with about 11,367 shares; overall insider ownership stands near 0.14%. ^[10]

What it means for investors:
The filings don’t signal a clear directional call on DUK—some large funds are trimming while others add—but they do underscore that Duke remains a widely held institutional utility, and that the stock’s recent run‑up has prompted at least some profit‑taking.

2. Advanced nuclear: DOE backs SMRs, Duke eyes Belews Creek

On December 4, Duke applauded a new $400 million U.S. Department of Energy cost‑share grant to the Tennessee Valley Authority to accelerate deployment of GE Vernova Hitachi’s BWRX‑300 small modular reactor (SMR) design. ^[11]

Key points from the announcement:

Duke is participating in TVA’s SMR project, aligning its own long‑term nuclear strategy with a standard design.
The company is evaluating Belews Creek in North Carolina as a potential SMR site and plans to file an early site permit application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ^[12]
The move dovetails with Duke’s broader plan to add over 13 GW of new capacity within five years, much of it dispatchable gas and nuclear generation, to handle surging load from data centers and industrial growth. ^[13]

Short‑term stock reaction to the SMR news was muted, but for long‑term shareholders it reinforces the theme that Duke intends to remain a major nuclear player in a decarbonizing grid.

3. North Carolina rate case and political pushback

One of the biggest near‑term storylines for Duke Energy stock is unfolding in North Carolina, where the company is simultaneously planning heavy grid and generation investment and asking regulators to raise rates.

On November 20, Duke filed requests with the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) for revised rates at its two state utilities—Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress. The filing is framed as part of a plan to: ^[14]

Support unprecedented electricity demand growth—Duke says it has added roughly 150,000 customers in North Carolina over the last two years and that 2025 project announcements alone bring more than 25,000 jobs and $19 billion of investment to the state.
Fund reliability upgrades and capacity additions needed for new manufacturing plants and power‑hungry data centers.

The NCUC is expected to hold public hearings in spring 2026, with an evidentiary hearing next summer and final rate decisions late in 2026. ^[15]

Not everyone is on board. North Carolina’s governor and attorney general have both raised concerns about the proposed 2027 rate increases, signaling they will push back on parts of Duke’s plan in defense of household and small‑business customers. ^[16]

Why it matters for DUK:

Rate cases determine how quickly Duke can recover its massive capital spending in the Carolinas, directly affecting earnings growth.
Political resistance introduces regulatory risk—investors will be watching how much of the requested increase the commission actually approves.

4. Community and ESG news: “Surcee” grants to fight hunger

On December 2, Duke Energy announced nearly $275,000 in surprise “surcee” microgrants to more than 60 hunger‑relief organizations across South Carolina, capping a $600,000 campaign and bringing total hunger‑related giving in the state to over $2.6 million since 2021. ^[17]

Funds are going to programs such as senior mobile meals, weekend backpack initiatives, food pantries and veteran support organizations. ^[18]

From an investment perspective, these community initiatives don’t move the needle on earnings, but they do feed into Duke’s ESG profile, which is increasingly scrutinized by both institutional investors and regulators.

Earnings momentum: Q2 and Q3 2025 results

Q2 2025: solid beat, guidance intact

For Q2 2025 (reported in August), Duke delivered:

Adjusted EPS:$1.25, beating consensus estimates of around $1.19 by roughly 5%. ^[19]
Revenue: about $7.51 billion, up 4.7% year‑over‑year and ahead of expectations near $7.3–$7.4 billion. ^[20]
EPS vs. prior year: adjusted EPS increased from approximately $1.13–$1.18 a year earlier, an improvement of around 6–11% depending on the metric used. ^[21]

Management reaffirmed 2025 adjusted EPS guidance in a range of $6.17–$6.42, signaling confidence that rate increases and load growth would offset higher costs. ^[22]

Reuters also highlighted that Q2 profits benefited from new rates, riders and strong demand from commercial and data‑center customers, even as interest costs and storm expenses increased. ^[23]

Q3 2025: another beat and a bigger capital plan

Q3 2025, reported on November 7, showed that momentum continuing:

Adjusted EPS:$1.81, topping forecasts in the $1.74–$1.76 range and growing 11%+ year‑over‑year from about $1.62. ^[24]
Revenue: about $8.54 billion, modestly above expectations and up sharply from the prior year, driven by higher electricity rates and strong demand in the Carolinas. ^[25]
Electric utilities segment profit: approximately $1.69 billion, up from $1.46 billion a year earlier. ^[26]

Duke narrowed its 2025 EPS guidance to $6.25–$6.35 and reaffirmed its 5–7% long‑term EPS growth target through 2029, saying it expects to land in the upper half of that range by 2028. ^[27]

Crucially for long‑term investors, management also laid out an even more ambitious five‑year capital plan, now estimated at $95–$105 billion, up from an earlier plan of about $83 billion announced in February. ^[28]

A large portion of that spending is aimed at:

Adding more than 13 GW of new generation by 2030, including roughly 7.5 GW of new natural‑gas capacity and significant nuclear projects. ^[29]
Upgrading grid infrastructure to handle rising loads from AI data centers, crypto mining and electrification. ^[30]

Despite the beat, the stock dipped slightly in the immediate aftermath of the Q3 release, likely reflecting investor focus on regulatory risk and financing needs rather than the quarter’s headline numbers. ^[31]

Strategic moves: financing the build‑out

Duke’s massive capital program requires equally large funding sources, and the company has been reshaping its balance sheet throughout 2025.

Brookfield deal: monetizing part of the Florida business

In August, Duke announced a deal to sell a 19.7% indirect stake in its Florida operations to Brookfield for about $6 billion in cash. ^[32]

The transaction will occur in phases, starting with a $2.8 billion payment expected in early 2026.
Proceeds are earmarked to support a $4 billion boost to Duke’s capital spending plan while helping maintain credit metrics. ^[33]

The company also plans to recover roughly $1.1 billion in storm‑related costs from Florida customers by early 2026, another component of its funding puzzle. ^[34]

Merging Carolinas utilities to cut costs

Separately, Duke is pursuing the combination of Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress, a merger of its two Carolinas utilities that management says could save customers over $1 billion by 2038 through streamlined operations and financing. ^[35]

Regulators haven’t signed off yet, but the proposed merger is already being used as evidence that the company is trying to keep long‑term customer costs down even as capex rises.

Dividend profile: a nearly century‑long streak

For income investors, Duke Energy’s dividend track record is one of its biggest selling points:

On October 14, the board declared a quarterly dividend of $1.065 per share, payable December 16, 2025 to shareholders of record as of November 14. ^[36]
Duke notes this marks 99 consecutive years of paying a common‑stock dividend, and its pattern is to pay on or around the 16th of March, June, September and December. ^[37]

At today’s share price, the forward yield is roughly mid‑3%, competitive among large regulated utilities and attractive versus U.S. Treasuries if investors expect rates to trend lower over the next few years.

Goldman Sachs recently highlighted Duke as a high‑yield, “safe passive income” pick, citing its defensive business model and target price around $138, implying double‑digit upside from levels at the time of that report. ^[38]

What Wall Street thinks about Duke Energy stock now

According to MarketBeat’s aggregation of broker research: ^[39]

DUK carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating based on 19 analyst opinions.
The breakdown: 12 buys (including 1 strong buy), 6 holds and 1 sell.
The average 12‑month price target is $138.44, with a high of $150 and a low of $126, implying roughly 19% upside from the most recent closing price around $116.5.

Notable recent moves include:

Goldman Sachs raising its target to around $141 and reiterating a buy stance. ^[40]
Mizuho lifting its target to $140 with an outperform rating. ^[41]
Barclays nudging its target into the mid‑$130s with an overweight view. ^[42]
Morgan Stanley, taking a more cautious line, trimmed its price target from about $136 to $133 in late November and rates the stock “underperform.” ^[43]

Consensus 2025 EPS expectations cluster around $6.3 per share, implying roughly 7% year‑over‑year growth, in line with management’s long‑term guidance. ^[44]

Valuation check: is DUK expensive or still attractive?

Valuation opinions on Duke Energy are not entirely aligned, which is important context for anyone looking at DUK at ~$116–$120.

A recent Simply Wall St analysis approached the question from multiple angles: ^[45]

Dividend Discount Model (DDM):
- Using an annual dividend of about $4.50, a return on equity around 8.8% and a high payout ratio near 102%, their pure dividend model suggests an intrinsic value closer to $63 per share, implying DUK is significantly overvalued if dividends alone drive the story.
Price‑to‑Earnings comparison:
- DUK currently trades at roughly 18.9× earnings, which the analysis notes is below both the U.S. electric utilities average (~20.5×) and a broader peer group (~27×).
- Their “fair” PE multiple for Duke, adjusting for growth and risk, is estimated near 24×, implying some potential rerating upside if the company hits its growth targets.

The takeaway:

Pure income investors focusing only on dividends might view DUK as fully valued or worse.
Investors comfortable with a regulated growth story—backed by rising load, a huge capex pipeline and steady 5–7% EPS growth—could see the current price as reasonable given the earnings trajectory and dividend reliability.

Key catalysts and risks for 2026

Bullish drivers

Data‑center and AI demand
Duke has signed roughly 3 GW of new power agreements this year with major data‑center operators such as Digital Realty and Edged, and expects that figure to grow further as AI computing loads ramp. ^[46]
Massive grid and generation build‑out
The company’s $95–$105 billion capital plan through the end of the decade—focused on gas, nuclear, renewables and grid upgrades—could drive base‑rate growth above 8.5% through 2030 if regulators approve recovery. ^[47]
Stable, regulated earnings
With 8.6 million electric customers and 1.7 million gas customers across the Carolinas, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, Duke remains one of America’s largest regulated utilities, providing a defensive earnings foundation. ^[48]
Dividend reliability
Nearly a century of uninterrupted dividends, plus a yield solidly above 3%, makes DUK a core holding for many income‑focused portfolios. ^[49]

Main risks to watch

Regulatory pushback on rate hikes
North Carolina officials already signaling opposition to proposed 2027 rate increases is a reminder that regulators can slow or reshape cost recovery. Outcomes of the 2026 rate hearings will be a major catalyst for the stock. ^[50]
Funding and dilution risk
Duke plans to raise billions in equity over the next several years, on top of the Brookfield deal and ongoing debt issuance, to fund its capex. Earlier in 2025, the company flagged plans to raise about $6.5 billion in equity between 2025 and 2029, starting with $1 billion this year. ^[51]
Interest‑rate sensitivity
As a capital‑intensive, dividend‑paying utility, DUK’s valuation is sensitive to long‑term interest rates. Higher‑for‑longer rates would pressure both financing costs and the relative attractiveness of its yield.
Execution risk on nuclear and gas projects
Building new gas plants and potential SMRs introduces construction, regulatory and cost‑overrun risks. Nuclear projects in particular can face long lead times and intense regulatory scrutiny, even with DOE support. ^[52]
Storm and climate risk
Duke’s service territory is heavily exposed to hurricanes and severe weather, as highlighted by recent storms that forced the company to seek $1.1 billion in Florida storm cost recovery. ^[53]

Bottom line: what today’s news means for DUK shareholders

As of December 7, 2025, Duke Energy stock sits at the crossroads of three big stories:

Growth: Rising power demand from AI data centers and industrial reshoring, plus a record‑size capital plan, give Duke unusually strong growth visibility for a regulated utility. ^[54]
Income: A near‑century dividend streak and ~3.5–3.7% yield keep DUK firmly in the “defensive income” camp. ^[55]
Regulation & funding: Aggressive rate requests, political pushback and the need to raise equity create real—but not insurmountable—risks that investors need to factor into any valuation. ^[56]

Wall Street’s Moderate Buy consensus and price targets around $138–$150 suggest analysts see high‑single to low‑double‑digit upside from current levels over the next 12 months, assuming regulatory outcomes roughly align with Duke’s expectations. ^[57]

For potential or existing investors, the key questions heading into 2026 are:

How generous will regulators be in allowing Duke to recover its massive capex from customers?
Can management execute on nuclear, gas and grid projects without major delays or cost overruns?
And does the combination of 5–7% annual EPS growth plus a mid‑3% yield adequately compensate for those risks?

As always, this overview is informational only and not personalized financial advice. Anyone considering investment decisions around Duke Energy should evaluate their own risk tolerance and consult a qualified financial adviser if needed.