Montag A & Associates Inc. Sells 1,284 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)

Montag A & Associates Inc. lessened its stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,284 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $125.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $127.00 target price (up previously from $124.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.25.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.8%

Duke Energy stock opened at $118.39 on Friday. Duke Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $105.20 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27. The stock has a market cap of $92.02 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $1.065 dividend. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.65%.

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.