Brokerages Set Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Target Price at $122.93

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $123.64.

DUK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Duke Energy by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,852,731,000 after acquiring an additional 779,054 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,097,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,949,857,000 after purchasing an additional 124,863 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,873,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,930,833,000 after purchasing an additional 385,612 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $922,529,000 after buying an additional 135,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Duke Energy by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,503,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $916,168,000 after buying an additional 357,967 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE DUK opened at $120.17 on Tuesday. Duke Energy has a 52 week low of $92.75 and a 52 week high of $121.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $113.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.37 billion, a PE ratio of 21.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. As a group, research analysts expect that Duke Energy will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.20%.

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.