Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target Raised to $118.00 at Barclays

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price objective upped by equities research analysts at Barclays from $102.00 to $118.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 1.15% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also commented on DUK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.21.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $116.66 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $113.99 and a 200 day moving average of $105.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The stock has a market cap of $90.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $118.31.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 acquiring 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 1st 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 during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 40,243 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 65.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,769,000 after buying an additional 813,744 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 1.6% in the first quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,973,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $190,845,000 after buying an additional 31,309 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

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.