Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target Raised to $121.00

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its target price increased by KeyCorp from $117.00 to $121.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $114.69.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $115.90 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $89.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $112.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Duke Energy has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $118.31.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion during 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%. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 109.4% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 7,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $762,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $222,000. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 26,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,608,000 after purchasing an additional 1,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 5,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.