Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Receives $100.62 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $100.62.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on DUK shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE DUK opened at $100.23 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $95.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.02. Duke Energy has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $100.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $77.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 3.2% in the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 224,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,730,000 after buying an additional 6,971 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 28,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,794,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 5.0% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 16,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,590,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the first quarter worth $235,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.