Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Lifted to “Outperform” at Mizuho

Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Mizuho currently has $121.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $116.00.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. 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. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.85.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.1 %

DUK stock opened at $120.76 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $93.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $115.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.67. Duke Energy has a fifty-two week low of $85.79 and a fifty-two week high of $120.85.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.03%.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $109,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after buying an additional 1,580 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 8.1% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 40,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,908,000 after acquiring an additional 3,043 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

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.