Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Given New $123.00 Price Target at Barclays

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price objective hoisted by Barclays from $111.00 to $123.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.20.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of DUK stock opened at $115.88 on Tuesday. Duke Energy has a fifty-two week low of $92.75 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.87. The stock has a market cap of $90.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. On average, analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 6.33 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.20%.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. United Bank increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.7% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 4,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $173,000. Brophy Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $421,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 30.8% in the third quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 37,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,345,000 after purchasing an additional 8,866 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,016,846,000 after purchasing an additional 442,302 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

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.