Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $122.23.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DUK. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Sachetta LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 100.0% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $107.74 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.81, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. Duke Energy has a fifty-two week low of $90.09 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $112.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.36.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 5.95 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

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.