Hodges Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 6.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 333 shares during the quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,030,865,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,157 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 9,164.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $95,031,000 after purchasing an additional 968,723 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $799,599,000 after purchasing an additional 842,458 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 242.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,044,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $101,348,000 after purchasing an additional 739,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 273.2% in the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 766,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,635,000 after purchasing an additional 561,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was 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 owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total transaction of $173,415.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 4 shares in the company, valued at approximately $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.4 %

DUK traded down $0.36 on Friday, reaching $100.23. 3,898,744 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,576,126. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $104.87. The company’s 50 day moving average is $101.37 and its 200-day moving average is $97.43. The company has a market cap of $77.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a $1.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DUK. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.33.

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.