Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) Stake Trimmed by Corundum Group Inc.

Corundum Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 34.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,511 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,020 shares during the quarter. Corundum Group Inc.'s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 10,817 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 16,508 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 815 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,379 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $125.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $126.94.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK stock traded down $0.96 on Wednesday, reaching $115.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,966,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,459,357. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.50. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $99.21 and a 52 week high of $125.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $117.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $114.97. The company has a market capitalization of $90.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.32%.

Duke Energy Company 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.