Weiss Ratings Reaffirms Buy (B-) Rating for Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK)

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK)‘s stock had its “buy (b-)” rating reissued by equities researchers at Weiss Ratings in a report issued on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on DUK. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $143.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank set a $137.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.36.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.1%

DUK opened at $127.41 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market cap of $99.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.44. Duke Energy has a twelve month low of $105.20 and a twelve month high of $130.03. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $123.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.44.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.07 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Duke Energy will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total transaction of $248,760.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total transaction of $832,542.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,768,397.72. This trade represents a 12.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 98.1% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 53.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. 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.