CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp Decreases Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp lessened its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,503 shares during the quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,396,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 46.6% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.3 %

DUK opened at $99.84 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $100.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.24. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $104.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a PEG ratio of 2.75 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The firm had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $1.025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DUK. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Duke Energy news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.