Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $102.42.

DUK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,057,253.03. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4 shares in the company, valued at $409.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,057,253.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 9,164.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $95,031,000 after acquiring an additional 968,723 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 4,163.9% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 882,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $85,352,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $799,599,000 after purchasing an additional 842,458 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 242.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,044,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $101,348,000 after purchasing an additional 739,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,141,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,081,125,000 after buying an additional 509,039 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.1 %

DUK stock opened at $105.32 on Thursday. Duke Energy has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $105.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $101.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.82. The company has a market capitalization of $81.28 billion, a PE ratio of 26.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.02%.

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.