Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $122.93.

Several research firms recently issued reports on DUK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank raised 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth $2,537,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $163,819,000. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 155.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 116.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,581 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $120.88 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.52. Duke Energy has a 1 year low of $92.75 and a 1 year high of $121.47.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.20%.

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.