Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Sees Large Volume Increase

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday . Approximately 1,551,021 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the previous session’s volume of 2,942,729 shares.The stock last traded at $100.57 and had previously closed at $100.10.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.75.

Duke Energy Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.24. The firm has a market cap of $77.05 billion, a PE ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a $1.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.02%.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total value 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the business’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 transaction of $173,415.45. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4 shares in the company, valued at approximately $409.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 value of $1,027,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 68,657 shares in the company, valued at $7,057,253.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. 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.