Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) Receives $137.94 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $137.9375.

Several research firms recently weighed in on DUK. Mizuho set a $136.00 price objective on Duke Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group cut their price target on Duke Energy from $137.00 to $135.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Evercore raised their target price on Duke Energy from $139.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, July 31st.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $120.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $125.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.62. Duke Energy has a 12 month low of $113.89 and a 12 month high of $134.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $93.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.03, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.38.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.66 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.78% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 6.72 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 Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.085 per share. This represents a $4.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.17%.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. World Investment Advisors grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 62.7% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 42,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,003,000 after purchasing an additional 16,450 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 15.7% during the second quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 70,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,910,000 after acquiring an additional 9,562 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 15.3% in the second quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 1,283,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,429,000 after buying an additional 170,700 shares in the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $6,326,000. Finally, SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $1,316,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based electric power holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company’s core business is the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Duke Energy operates a mix of regulated electric utilities and non-regulated energy businesses, providing essential energy infrastructure and services across multiple states.

Its operating activities include owning and operating generation assets across a portfolio that encompasses nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and an expanding array of renewable resources, as well as battery storage and grid modernization projects.