- Duke Energy (DUK -1.5%) is downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays after the utility swung to an unadjusted Q1 loss due to a $1.4B writedown of the fleet of coal-fired power plants in the Midwest it's trying to sell.
- Barclays says it does not view DUK as compromised in any material way, but it believes that while current conditions exist it would be hard to justify as high a premium as it had placed on the stock.
- The firm still looks for announcements such as bids for the Midwest generation portfolio and the Florida generation RFP to provide positive catalysts, but sees shares valued closer to the group than its previous 10% premium would justify.