Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Trading 0.4% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) rose 0.4% on Tuesday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $104.00 to $113.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Duke Energy traded as high as $113.41 and last traded at $113.12. Approximately 668,128 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 2,934,949 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.72.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on DUK. KeyCorp lifted their price objective 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 lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.85.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. abrdn plc lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 72.6% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 317,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,806,000 after buying an additional 133,527 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 87,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,493,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 37,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,626,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares during the period. Finally, GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $500,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $87.41 billion, a PE ratio of 28.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.78. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.18.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

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.