OLD Republic International Corp Decreases Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)

OLD Republic International Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 12.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 492,231 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 68,500 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy comprises 2.3% of OLD Republic International Corp's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. OLD Republic International Corp owned approximately 0.06% of Duke Energy worth $60,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 14,268.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,663,183 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $202,858,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651,608 shares during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth $163,819,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,852,731,000 after buying an additional 779,054 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 4,838,705 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $521,322,000 after buying an additional 625,008 shares during the period. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 40.6% during the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,027,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $218,454,000 after buying an additional 585,600 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on DUK. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Duke Energy in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $126.88.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.8%

Duke Energy stock traded down $0.96 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $116.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,135,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,488,512. Duke Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $100.30 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27. 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 company has a market cap of $90.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $117.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.17. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 15.40%. The business had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect 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. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.32%.

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.