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

Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $116.36.

DUK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $117.31 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $90.54 billion, a PE ratio of 29.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47. 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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The company’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.03%.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, 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 is available through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 69.6% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth $30,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 101.2% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.