Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target Increased to $126.00 by Analysts at BMO Capital Markets

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price objective increased by BMO Capital Markets from $120.00 to $126.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on DUK. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $114.69.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $115.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $89.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $112.11 and its 200 day moving average is $103.58. Duke Energy has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $118.31.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 65.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,769,000 after buying an additional 813,744 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 9,923.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 769,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,103,000 after acquiring an additional 761,590 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,141,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,081,125,000 after purchasing an additional 509,039 shares during the period. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,874,000. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 96.1% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 789,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,529,000 after purchasing an additional 387,038 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.