Morgan Stanley Cuts Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target to $127.00

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price objective trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $133.00 to $127.00 in a research report report published on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

DUK has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $139.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $140.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.56.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $117.44 on Friday. Duke Energy has a 1-year low of $113.89 and a 1-year high of $134.49. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.37.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.66 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 15.78%.Duke Energy’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy will post 6.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were given a dividend of $1.085 per share. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. This represents a $4.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.2% during the second quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. now owns 6,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $838,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Sharp Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.5% in the first quarter. Sharp Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 1,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.3% in the first quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Elm Partners Management LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Elm Partners Management LLC now owns 9,254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong electricity demand highlights system growth: Unusually hot September weather has driven elevated power usage across North and South Carolina. Duke asked customers to voluntarily reduce consumption during the peak 2–8 p.m. period, underscoring demand for its electricity and the importance of grid reliability. Duke Energy asks Carolinas customers to reduce electricity use during today’s peak-demand period
• Positive Sentiment: Storm response recognized: The Edison Electric Institute honored Duke for restoring service to nearly 200,000 customers after Winter Storm Fern, supporting the company’s reputation for operational execution and customer service. EEI recognizes Duke Energy for outstanding response to Winter Storm Fern
• Neutral Sentiment: Outage recovery continues: Most of Greensboro’s power had been restored by Friday evening after outages, limiting the potential for a prolonged customer-impact issue but highlighting ongoing reliability and weather-related operating risks. The majority of Greensboro’s power has been restored
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley lowered its price target: The firm cut its target for Duke from $133 to $127 and maintained an “equal weight” rating. While the revised target still implies upside, the reduction signals more limited near-term appreciation potential and was likely the clearest market-specific catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: North Carolina rejected a $584 million gas-turbine proposal: State regulators denied Duke’s plan for generation near an Amazon data center. The decision could delay capacity additions, weaken expected data-center growth opportunities, and complicate recovery of investment costs from customers. NC regulators deny Duke Energy’s gas turbine proposal
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and regulatory liabilities remain concerns: Duke dropped its challenge to a workplace-safety fine tied to a lineman’s electrocution death, while a separate lawsuit alleges negligence in a power-line death. Potential penalties, litigation costs, and reputational damage are modest but unfavorable overhangs.

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy Corporation is an electric and natural gas utility holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, with a generation portfolio that includes natural gas, nuclear, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources. It also operates natural gas distribution businesses and provides related energy services.

Duke Energy’s regulated electric utilities serve residential, commercial and industrial customers across the Carolinas, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.