Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target Raised to $104.00 at Scotiabank

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price objective upped by equities research analysts at Scotiabank from $94.00 to $104.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector perform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 7.96% from the stock’s previous close.

DUK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Duke Energy from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.75.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE DUK traded up $0.07 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $112.99. 2,702,526 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,946,167. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $103.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.09. Duke Energy has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $116.67. The firm has a market cap of $87.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $409.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total transaction of $173,415.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 21,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 15,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,516,000 after buying an additional 1,615 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $120,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 77,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,532,000 after purchasing an additional 5,312 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.