Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK)

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their outperform rating on shares of Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $135.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $113.92.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.3 %

DUK opened at $112.99 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Duke Energy has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $116.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.03.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The company’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Duke Energy will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

Insider Activity

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Duke Energy by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 41.9% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 3,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO raised its position in Duke Energy by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 2,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.