Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

DUK has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $112.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Sunday, June 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Barclays initiated coverage on Duke Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim cut their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.75.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $87.93 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Duke Energy has a 12-month low of $83.76 and a 12-month high of $111.26. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $91.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.83. The firm has a market cap of $67.77 billion, a PE ratio of 49.12, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.43.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.07). Duke Energy had a net margin of 5.06% and a return on equity of 8.05%. The firm had revenue of $6.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,863,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,330,739,000 after acquiring an additional 464,754 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,018,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,031,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037,012 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Duke Energy by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,635,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $864,652,000 after purchasing an additional 257,665 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Duke Energy by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,188,381 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $734,825,000 after purchasing an additional 1,435,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,928,738 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $711,525,000 after buying an additional 89,132 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.68% 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; and uses coal, hydroelectric, natural gas, oil, solar and wind sources, renewables, and nuclear fuel to generate electricity.