Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Raises Stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 172,733 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 5,593 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy makes up approximately 1.5% of Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Duke Energy were worth $21,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Duke Energy by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,852,731,000 after purchasing an additional 779,054 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Duke Energy by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,097,796 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,949,857,000 after purchasing an additional 124,863 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,873,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,930,833,000 after purchasing an additional 385,612 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Duke Energy by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $922,529,000 after purchasing an additional 135,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Duke Energy by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,503,503 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $916,168,000 after purchasing an additional 357,967 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on DUK. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Duke Energy from $125.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Duke Energy in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $125.75.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK opened at $115.42 on Friday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $117.95 and a 200 day moving average of $114.90. The stock has a market cap of $89.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.14, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.37. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $99.21 and a 52-week high of $125.27.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 15.40%. Duke Energy's revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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