Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $134.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $141.00.

DUK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price objective on Duke Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Duke Energy in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.00.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE DUK opened at $122.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.39. Duke Energy has a one year low of $105.20 and a one year high of $127.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The business’s fifty day moving average is $122.29 and its 200-day moving average is $119.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $7.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $1.065 per share. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 69.27%.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total transaction of $832,542.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,768,397.72. The trade was a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total value of $248,760.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,438,843.04. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,716,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,934,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,783 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,684,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,205,070,000 after purchasing an additional 319,001 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11,417.7% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,668,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,084,917,000 after purchasing an additional 17,515,383 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 17,880.0% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,249,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,250,133,000 after purchasing an additional 10,192,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in 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 worth $1,088,158,000 after buying an additional 418,014 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

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.