Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target Lowered to $118.00 at Morgan Stanley

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price target reduced by Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $118.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on DUK. Scotiabank increased their target price on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.69.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $115.00 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $88.84 billion, a PE ratio of 21.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy has a one year low of $90.09 and a one year high of $121.25.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 108,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,520,000 after buying an additional 9,334 shares during the period. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,888,000. PrairieView Partners LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $501,000. Commerce Bank raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 269,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,041,000 after purchasing an additional 15,069 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 158.9% in the third quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 8,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 5,206 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

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.