Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) PT Raised to $118.00

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its target price raised by Barclays from $102.00 to $118.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on DUK. Scotiabank upped their target price on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a buy rating and a $138.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $118.21.

Duke Energy Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $114.05 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market cap of $88.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $118.31. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $114.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.29.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 105.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 435,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,084,000 after acquiring an additional 13,406 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 57.8% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 27,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 9,917 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 63.8% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 44,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,324,000 after acquiring an additional 17,420 shares during the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $254,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 9.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 108,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,520,000 after acquiring an additional 9,334 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.