Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $122.08.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DUK shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DUK. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter worth $29,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE DUK opened at $113.15 on Friday. 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 has a one year low of $90.09 and a one year high of $121.25. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $109.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.20%.

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.