Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target Lowered to $140.00 at Royal Bank Of Canada

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price target lowered by Royal Bank Of Canada from $143.00 to $140.00 in a research report released on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

DUK has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Mizuho upped their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $135.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $143.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Duke Energy from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.94.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.3%

DUK opened at $117.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Duke Energy has a 12 month low of $108.74 and a 12 month high of $130.03. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $118.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.38.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.51 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.98% and a net margin of 15.76%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a $1.065 dividend. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Robert Alexander Glenn sold 8,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total value of $1,015,160.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,367 shares in the company, valued at $1,407,234.60. This represents a 41.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dorato Capital Management bought a new position in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 53.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Duke Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Duke Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Duke says it has more than 18,000 workers from 27 states and Canada staged to respond to Winter Storm Fern, signaling strong operational readiness to limit outage duration and reputational damage. PR Newswire release
• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy Florida is deploying about 500 workers to assist Carolinas restoration efforts, showing proactive mutual-aid deployment that can speed repairs and reduce prolonged outage costs. MSN report
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysis pieces are reframing DUK around analyst target changes and sentiment rather than material operations — watch how consensus targets and EPS forecasts evolve, since market reaction is being driven by these narrative shifts. Yahoo Finance
• Neutral Sentiment: Market coverage notes a recent intraday price dip and elevated volume as investors reposition around storm risk and dividend safety narratives; this is more of a sentiment/flow story than a fundamentals surprise. Zacks
• Negative Sentiment: RBC cut its DUK price target to $140 from $143 and kept a “sector perform” rating — a small downgrade that still implies about ~19% upside but may weigh on near‑term sentiment. MarketScreener
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports warn of freezing‑rain/ice risks and potential multiday outages in Duke’s service areas; prolonged outages raise short‑term repair and overtime costs and could spur customer complaints and regulatory scrutiny. MarketBeat / AP coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Local coverage highlights customer complaints about rising bills, a reputational/regulatory headwind that can affect rate cases and public sentiment if the issue escalates. WCPO article

Duke Energy Company Profile

Duke Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based electric power holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company’s core business is the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Duke Energy operates a mix of regulated electric utilities and non-regulated energy businesses, providing essential energy infrastructure and services across multiple states.

Its operating activities include owning and operating generation assets across a portfolio that encompasses nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and an expanding array of renewable resources, as well as battery storage and grid modernization projects.