CWA Asset Management Group LLC Trims Stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 135,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,741 shares during the period. Duke Energy comprises about 0.8% of CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $16,553,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 9,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,077,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Americana Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 4,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 485.9% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DUK. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays increased their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Duke Energy from $126.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.81.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.6%

DUK stock opened at $114.77 on Wednesday. Duke Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $99.21 and a twelve month high of $125.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $118.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.90.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.40% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The company had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.32%.

Duke Energy Profile

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.