Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Receives $121.85 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $121.85.

DUK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $138.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays increased their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,835,047,000 after buying an additional 324,289 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,111,521,000 after purchasing an additional 352,320 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $781,500,000 after purchasing an additional 6,719,398 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,471,035 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $247,672,000 after buying an additional 40,243 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Duke Energy by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $264,111,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK traded down $0.59 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $111.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,148,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,054,292. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.07. Duke Energy has a 52 week low of $88.27 and a 52 week high of $121.25. The stock has a market cap of $85.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.44, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

Duke Energy Company Profile

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.