Duke Energy Misses on Q1 Earnings

Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) reported its first-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Tuesday. The company said it had $1.13 in earnings per share (EPS) on $5.62 billion in revenue. That compares to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $1.14 in EPS on revenue of $6.05 billion. The same period from last year had EPS of $1.24 and $6.06 billion in revenue.

In connection with the transaction to sell the Midwest Generation business to Dynegy for $2.8 billion, which closed in early April 2015, Duke completed a $1.5 billion accelerated stock repurchase program.

Duke reaffirmed its 2016 full year EPS guidance of $4.50 to $4.70, which compares to the consensus estimate of $4.59 in EPS.
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Duke reported its business segments as follows:

• Regulated Utilities had operating revenues of $5.26 billion with operating income of $1.29 billion.
• International Energy had operating revenues of $246 million with operating income of $92 million.
• Commercial Portfolio had operating revenues of $114 million with operating income of $4 million.
• Other had operating revenues of $29 million with an operating loss of $56 million.

Lynn Good, chairman, president and CEO of Duke, commented on earnings:

Operational excellence continues to underpin our commitment to our customers, communities and investors. This was evidenced by our quick response in restoring more than 1.1 million customers after multiple winter storms in the Carolinas.

She added:

Equally important, we continued to make investments to better serve our customers — expanding natural gas and renewable generation investments, modernizing the electric grid and investing in infrastructure while continuing to efficiently manage our operations.

On the books, cash and cash equivalents totaled $778 million at the end of the quarter, compared to $857 million at the end of the 2015 full year.

Shares of Duke traded Tuesday morning at $79.244, with a consensus analyst price target of $79.65 and a 52-week trading range of $65.50 to $81.39.