KeyCorp Raises Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target to $112.00

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price objective increased by KeyCorp from $107.00 to $112.00 in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on DUK. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. 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 note on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays upped their price target on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and upped their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $101.85.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $103.44 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $104.60.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $1.025 dividend. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4 shares in the company, valued at $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in Duke Energy by 3.2% during the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 71,889 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,952,000 after acquiring an additional 2,196 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at $61,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in Duke Energy by 4.7% during the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 7,040 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $681,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at $165,000. Finally, KLCM Advisors Inc. increased its position in Duke Energy by 2.9% during the first quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 5,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $501,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.