Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $121.85.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,835,047,000 after buying an additional 324,289 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,111,521,000 after acquiring an additional 352,320 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,500,000 after purchasing an additional 6,719,398 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.7% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,471,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,672,000 after purchasing an additional 40,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $264,111,000 after purchasing an additional 6,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of DUK opened at $111.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy has a 52 week low of $86.61 and a 52 week high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $115.81 and a 200-day moving average of $108.97.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

About Duke Energy

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.