Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Duke Energy from $134.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.00.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $125.11 on Tuesday. Duke Energy has a twelve month low of $105.20 and a twelve month high of $130.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $123.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.34, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.065 per share. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.27%.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total transaction of $832,542.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,768,397.72. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,438,843.04. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DUK. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $214,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 127.1% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 13,583 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,657,000 after acquiring an additional 7,603 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in Duke Energy by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 42,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,188,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Creek Financial Management LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 3.7% in the first quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is 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.