Brokerages Set Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) PT at $137.94

Shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $137.9375.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $140.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Evercore raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $139.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $143.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $120.79 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.66. Duke Energy has a 52 week low of $113.89 and a 52 week high of $134.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $125.40 and a 200-day moving average of $126.65.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.13. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 15.78%.The business had revenue of $7.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.66 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy will post 6.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.085 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $4.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.3% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 303,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,410,000 after buying an additional 6,893 shares during the period. HORAN Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC now owns 7,531 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $953,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Schulz Wealth LTD. acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $317,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $88,657,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 12,624.6% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 114,736,922 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,523,400,000 after acquiring an additional 113,835,227 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by 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.