Raymond James started coverage on shares of Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a market perform rating on the utilities provider's stock.
Several other brokerages have also issued reports on DUK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Duke Energy from $126.00 to $125.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $125.81.
Read Our Latest Research Report on DUK
Duke Energy Trading Down 0.5%
Shares of Duke Energy stock traded down $0.53 during trading on Friday, hitting $116.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,789,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,458,523. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $118.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Duke Energy has a 52 week low of $99.21 and a 52 week high of $125.27. The stock has a market cap of $90.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.37.
Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.17. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. The firm had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Duke Energy Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. Duke Energy's payout ratio is presently 69.32%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 17,880.0% in 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 buying an additional 10,192,503 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $702,351,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 88.1% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,861,309 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $592,934,000 after acquiring an additional 2,276,948 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,562,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,094,327,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 14,268.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,663,183 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $202,858,000 after buying an additional 1,651,608 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Duke Energy
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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