Duke Energy Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:DUK)

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders acquired 5,225 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 50% compared to the average volume of 3,478 call options.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $98.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $75.76 billion, a PE ratio of 27.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $100.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.74. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $94.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.60.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. Duke Energy’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 28.6% in the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 25,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,691,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on DUK shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Barclays upped their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.62.

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.