Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target Lowered to $99.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price target cut by BMO Capital Markets from $101.00 to $99.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on DUK. Royal Bank of Canada raised Duke Energy from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Evercore ISI upgraded Duke Energy from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $101.17.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $92.86 on Tuesday. Duke Energy has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $100.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $94.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The company had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 100,433.2% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,846,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $808,123,000 after purchasing an additional 7,838,811 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 106.1% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,006,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $291,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,868 shares in the last quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 8,722.3% during the second quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,127,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $112,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,053 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,030,239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $779,256,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,018,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,031,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037,012 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.