Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $123.87.

DUK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $119.01 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.67. Duke Energy has a fifty-two week low of $92.75 and a fifty-two week high of $121.47. The company has a market capitalization of $92.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. Analysts expect that Duke Energy will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 73.20%.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,852,731,000 after buying an additional 779,054 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,097,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,949,857,000 after purchasing an additional 124,863 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,873,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,930,833,000 after purchasing an additional 385,612 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $922,529,000 after purchasing an additional 135,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,503,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $916,168,000 after buying an additional 357,967 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by 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.