Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) to Issue $1.05 Quarterly Dividend

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, October 7th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of 1.045 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, December 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th.

Duke Energy has raised its dividend payment by an average of 2.1% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 20 consecutive years. Duke Energy has a payout ratio of 65.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Duke Energy to earn $6.34 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.18 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.9%.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $110.67 on Wednesday. Duke Energy has a 52 week low of $85.79 and a 52 week high of $118.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.54. The firm has a market cap of $85.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 $2,259,617.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DUK shares. KeyCorp upped their target price on Duke Energy from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.21.

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.