Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Moderate Buy consensus from 19 analysts (10 buy, 9 hold) with an average 1-year price target of $140.50, implying roughly a 12% upside from the stock's $125.79 open.
• Duke slightly beat quarterly estimates with $1.50 EPS (vs. $1.49) and $7.94B revenue, and trades at a P/E of 19.9 with a market cap near $97.9B.
• Key risk: a roughly $103B planned capex program could compress the company's credit cushion; meanwhile insiders have trimmed holdings but institutional investors (65.31% ownership) including Vanguard and Amundi have increased stakes.

Shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $140.50.

A number of analysts have commented on DUK shares. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $125.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Capitol Sec Mgt cut shares of Duke Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th.

Duke Energy Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $125.79 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.55. Duke Energy has a 52-week low of $111.22 and a 52-week high of $134.49. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $129.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.18. The firm has a market cap of $97.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.90 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 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 firm had revenue of $7.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 6,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.67, for a total transaction of $868,156.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 22,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,809,633.69. This represents a 23.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Regis T. Repko sold 962 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.86, for a total value of $123,001.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 3,896 shares of the company's stock, valued at $498,142.56. The trade was a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,258,757 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,172,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957,592 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 56.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,662,460 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $312,067,000 after buying an additional 965,808 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,236,893 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $965,446,000 after buying an additional 954,907 shares during the last quarter. Milford Funds Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $97,905,000. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 83.3% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 1,711,445 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $200,598,000 after acquiring an additional 777,878 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Key Duke Energy News

Here are the key news stories impacting Duke Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo nudged its price target higher to $136 (from $135) while keeping an "equal weight" rating — a modest positive signal that supports upside vs. the current price. Wells Fargo raises PT to $136
• Neutral Sentiment: Company PR highlights lineworkers advancing to the International Lineman's Rodeo — positive for operational reliability and employee recognition but unlikely to move the stock materially. Powering Reliability: Duke Energy lineworkers sharpen skills
• Neutral Sentiment: Market reports and summaries note DUK closed lower in recent sessions — descriptive coverage of the pullback rather than new fundamental news. Duke Energy sees a dip vs. market
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley trimmed its price target slightly to $141 (from $142) while maintaining an "equal weight" rating — a small headwind to sentiment and a signal of conservative near-term expectations. Morgan Stanley lowers PT to $141
• Negative Sentiment: An opinion piece flags Duke's roughly $103B planned capex as compressing its credit cushion — a reminder that heavy spending could pressure credit metrics and valuation if not offset by regulatory recoveries or higher returns. That theme likely weighs on risk sentiment for the name. Capex is compressing the credit cushion

Duke Energy Company Profile

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.

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