Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Receives $121.85 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $121.85.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DUK. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays increased their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 324,289 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,111,521,000 after acquiring an additional 352,320 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $247,672,000 after acquiring an additional 40,243 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 65.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,769,000 after acquiring an additional 813,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 1.6% during the first quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,973,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $190,845,000 after purchasing an additional 31,309 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $119.90 on Friday. Duke Energy has a 1-year low of $85.79 and a 1-year high of $121.25. The company has a market capitalization of $92.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $115.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 105.03%.

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.