Analysts Set Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Price Target at $102.58

Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $106.75.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on DUK shares. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $112.67 on Monday. Duke Energy has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $116.67. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market cap of $86.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.31, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 4 shares in the company, valued at $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 9,164.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $95,031,000 after purchasing an additional 968,723 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 4,163.9% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 882,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $85,352,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $799,599,000 after buying an additional 842,458 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9,923.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 769,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,103,000 after buying an additional 761,590 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,141,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,081,125,000 after buying an additional 509,039 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.