Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Now Covered by Jefferies Financial Group

Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 18.60% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.36.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $116.36 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.82. Duke Energy has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $118.31. The company has a market cap of $89.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 65.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,769,000 after buying an additional 813,744 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its position in Duke Energy by 9,923.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 769,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,103,000 after purchasing an additional 761,590 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,141,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,081,125,000 after purchasing an additional 509,039 shares in the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,874,000. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 96.1% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 789,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $76,529,000 after buying an additional 387,038 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.