Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $134.50.

DUK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on Duke Energy from $135.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $136.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $126.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Robert Alexander Glenn sold 8,200 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total transaction of $1,015,160.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,407,234.60. This trade represents a 41.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 17,515,383 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,258,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,172,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957,592 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $86,309,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 448.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 826,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $102,254,000 after purchasing an additional 675,768 shares during the period. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its position in Duke Energy by 64.4% in the second quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 1,472,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $173,734,000 after buying an additional 576,674 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.9%

Duke Energy stock opened at $123.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $118.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $121.59. Duke Energy has a 1-year low of $110.51 and a 1-year high of $130.03. 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 (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.76% and a return on equity of 9.98%. The company had revenue of $8.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $1.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

About Duke Energy

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.