Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target Raised to $141.00

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price objective boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $125.00 to $141.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,MarketScreener reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on DUK. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $141.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $136.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.19.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:DUK opened at $126.42 on Tuesday. Duke Energy has a one year low of $111.04 and a one year high of $130.03. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $119.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.01. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.66% and a net margin of 15.41%.The business had revenue of $7.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $1.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 67.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 6,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.67, for a total value of $868,156.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 22,007 shares in the company, valued at $2,809,633.69. This trade represents a 23.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $728,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 19.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,825,000 after purchasing an additional 3,797 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the second quarter valued at $11,080,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.0% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 31,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,686,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 51.9% in the 2nd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 1,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based electric power holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company’s core business is the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Duke Energy operates a mix of regulated electric utilities and non-regulated energy businesses, providing essential energy infrastructure and services across multiple states.

Its operating activities include owning and operating generation assets across a portfolio that encompasses nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and an expanding array of renewable resources, as well as battery storage and grid modernization projects.