Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $122.23.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DUK. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Duke Energy Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $106.24 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Duke Energy has a one year low of $90.09 and a one year high of $121.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $111.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.07 billion, a PE ratio of 19.53, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 5,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $545,000 after buying an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 6.9% in the second quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 255.7% during the second quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 137,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,781,000 after purchasing an additional 98,846 shares in the last quarter. Midland Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter. Midland Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after buying an additional 728 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 66,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,641,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.