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

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com 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 twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $122.23.

A number of research analysts have commented on DUK shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the third quarter worth $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Sachetta LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 41.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 100.0% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $108.82 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy has a 1-year low of $90.09 and a 1-year high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

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.