Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Duke Energy Corporation has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with nine ratings for buy and five for hold out of a total of fourteen analysts.
• The company recently reported earnings of $1.25 per share, slightly below the expected $1.29, although revenue for the quarter was above expectations at $7.51 billion.
• Duke Energy declared a quarterly dividend of $1.065, an increase from the previous dividend, with a dividend yield of 3.5% and a payout ratio of 69.27%.

Shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $130.6154.

DUK has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Barclays increased their price target on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total transaction of $248,760.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,438,843.04. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total value of $832,542.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,768,397.72. This trade represents a 12.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,716,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,934,580,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154,783 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,684,447 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,205,070,000 after acquiring an additional 319,001 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11,417.7% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,668,789 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,084,917,000 after acquiring an additional 17,515,383 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 17,880.0% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,249,508 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,250,133,000 after purchasing an additional 10,192,503 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,921,517 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,088,158,000 after purchasing an additional 418,014 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of DUK stock traded down $0.15 on Tuesday, reaching $121.96. 2,136,379 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,491,651. The company has a market cap of $94.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $121.42 and a 200-day moving average of $119.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Duke Energy has a one year low of $105.20 and a one year high of $127.85.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.The company's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Duke Energy will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $1.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is an increase from Duke Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Duke Energy's payout ratio is 69.27%.

About Duke Energy

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.