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

Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $122.23.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DUK shares. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $112.14 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $86.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.49. Duke Energy has a 52-week low of $90.09 and a 52-week high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $110.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.53.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,500,000 after buying an additional 6,719,398 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 155.1% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,832,000 after buying an additional 1,138,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 13,829.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,782,000 after buying an additional 1,117,526 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.