Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY Cuts Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY reduced its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 19.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,691 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 666 shares during the period. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of DUK. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 14,268.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,663,183 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $202,858,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651,608 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $163,819,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 116.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $222,520,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111,581 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,852,731,000 after acquiring an additional 779,054 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 4,838,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $521,322,000 after buying an additional 625,008 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.9%

DUK stock opened at $117.61 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $99.21 and a twelve month high of $125.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The company has a market capitalization of $91.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.79.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.17. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. The business had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 69.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.81.

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.