Atticus Wealth Management LLC Sells 500 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)

Atticus Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 69.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $27,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ellis Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Childress Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,268 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,054,000. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $238,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank raised its stake in Duke Energy by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 63,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,758,000 after acquiring an additional 2,031 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim increased their price objective 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. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $127.00 price objective (up from $126.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Citigroup increased their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.75.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.7%

DUK stock opened at $115.42 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $117.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $114.91. Duke Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $99.21 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $89.71 billion, a PE ratio of 19.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.