CapWealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

CapWealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 11.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 305 shares during the period. CapWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 3,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Breakwater Capital Group boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 3.9% in the first quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 2,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Duke Energy by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Chemung Canal Trust Co. raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 14,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4 shares in the company, valued at $409.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Duke Energy news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total value of $1,027,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total transaction of $173,415.45. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.33.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.3 %

Duke Energy stock traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $100.94. The stock had a trading volume of 3,200,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,913,068. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $101.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.61. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $104.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a $1.025 dividend. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.02%.

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest.