Bank of America Raises Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target to $118.00

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price objective lifted by Bank of America from $116.00 to $118.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on DUK. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $113.92.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $112.99 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.03. The stock has a market cap of $87.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.39, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $116.67.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Duke Energy will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.1% during the second quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 41.9% in the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% in the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $611,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.7% in the second quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 3,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% in the second quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 2,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 100 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.