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

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $100.62.

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $100.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Duke Energy has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $100.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $95.38 and a 200 day moving average of $94.02. The firm has a market cap of $77.32 billion, a PE ratio of 28.23, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The business had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Duke Energy will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 224,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,730,000 after acquiring an additional 6,971 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 5.0% in the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 28,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,794,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 8.7% during the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 16,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,590,000 after buying an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $235,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.