Short Interest in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Rises By 9.4%

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,630,000 shares, a growth of 9.4% from the August 31st total of 10,630,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,930,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.21.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK stock traded up $0.92 on Tuesday, hitting $116.22. 3,729,301 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,982,883. The firm has a market cap of $89.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.20, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $118.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $1.045 dividend. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $215,000. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $201,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $557,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,907,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.