BMO Capital Markets Boosts Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target to $124.00

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $119.00 to $124.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 10.26% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on DUK. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.08.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $112.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.61. Duke Energy has a fifty-two week low of $90.09 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The company has a market capitalization of $86.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. Analysts expect that Duke Energy will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PBMares Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% in the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $760,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $315,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 10,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,172,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

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.