Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $122.00 to $127.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 7.79% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $127.00 price objective (up previously from $124.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.25.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $117.83 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $91.58 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.37. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.88. Duke Energy has a 1-year low of $105.20 and a 1-year high of $125.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 15.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,562,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,094,327,000 after buying an additional 1,676,061 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,097,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,949,857,000 after buying an additional 124,863 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,873,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,930,833,000 after buying an additional 385,612 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 17,880.0% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,249,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,250,133,000 after buying an additional 10,192,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,921,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,088,158,000 after buying an additional 418,014 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Duke Energy

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.