Principal Financial Group Inc. increases its stake in Duke Realty Co. (NYSE:DRE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. removed its position in Duke Realty Co. (NYSE: DRE – Get a rating) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The company held 514,821 shares of the real estate investment trust after purchasing an additional 6,915 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.13% of Duke Realty worth $29,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently changed their holdings in the company. Atria Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Realty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,481,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its stake in Duke Realty by 52.3% in the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 21,814 shares of the real estate investment trust worth $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 7,489 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Duke Realty by 7.8% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 236,099 shares of the real estate investment trust worth $13,708,000 after buying an additional 17,040 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Duke Realty by 336.4% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 45,451 shares of the real estate investment trust worth $2,983,000 after buying an additional 35,035 shares last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Duke Realty by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 267,205 shares of the real estate investment trust worth $17,539,000 after purchasing an additional 32,903 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors hold 96.91% of the company’s shares.

Duke Realty Price Performance

Shares of DRE opened at $65.35 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.16 billion, a PE ratio of 26.25, a growth price-earnings ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Duke Realty Co. has a 1-year low of $47.12 and a 1-year high of $66.22. The company’s fifty-day moving average price is $57.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.07.

Duke Estate (NYSE: DRE – Get a rating) last released its quarterly results on Wednesday, July 27. The real estate investment trust reported EPS of $0.27 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 per ($0.20). Duke Realty had a net margin of 85.63% and a return on equity of 15.66%. The company posted revenue of $280.15 million in the quarter, compared to $279.80 million expected by analysts. In the same period a year earlier, the company posted earnings per share of $0.44. Duke Realty’s revenue for the quarter increased 10.3% from the same quarter last year. On average, equity research analysts expect Duke Realty Co. to post EPS of 1.91 for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Realty

In other Duke Realty news, Chief Financial Officer Mark A. Denien sold 140,000 shares of the company in a trade on Wednesday, August 3. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.13, for a total value of $8,698,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in an SEC filing, which is available via this hyperlink. 0.44% of the shares are held by insiders.

A Wall Street analyst gives his opinion

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DRE. Mizuho cut its price target on Duke Realty shares from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “na” rating for the company in a Tuesday, May 17 research note. Edward Jones downgraded Duke Realty from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a Tuesday, June 14 research report. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Duke Realty from a ‘market performer’ rating to an ‘outperformer’ rating and cut its price target for the stock from $68.00 to $65.00 in a research report Monday, May 16. Wells Fargo & Company raised its price target on Duke Realty from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report Thursday, Aug. 11. Finally, Truist Financial cut its price target on Duke Realty from $63.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a Tuesday, May 31 research report. Seven equity research analysts gave the stock a hold rating and four gave the stock a buy rating. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.20.

Profile of Duke Realty

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Duke Realty Corporation owns and operates approximately 159 million leasable square feet of industrial assets in 20 major logistics markets. Duke Realty Corporation is listed on the NYSE under the symbol DRE and is a member of the S&P 500 Index.