Duke Energy's (DUK) Buy (B-) Rating Reaffirmed at Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Duke Energy's stock has received a "buy (B-)" rating from Weiss Ratings, indicating positive analyst sentiment towards the company.
• Multiple financial institutions have raised their price targets for Duke Energy, with Barclays setting a new target of $131.00, while Goldman Sachs has a target of $132.00.
• Duke Energy reported a net margin of 15.51% and a quarterly revenue of $7.51 billion, marking a 4.7% increase year-over-year despite missing earnings expectations.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b-)" rating restated by analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on DUK. Barclays upped their price target on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price target on Duke Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $127.00 target price (up from $124.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $127.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $133.08.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK traded down $0.26 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $125.30. The stock had a trading volume of 2,422,901 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,759,188. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Duke Energy has a 1-year low of $105.20 and a 1-year high of $127.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $122.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $119.73.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In related news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total value of $248,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total transaction of $832,542.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,768,397.72. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 7.7% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 291,667 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,575,000 after purchasing an additional 20,942 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 9.9% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 127,419 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,451,000 after acquiring an additional 11,445 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 8.1% during the first quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 51,354 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,264,000 after acquiring an additional 3,837 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,656,244 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,055,087,000 after acquiring an additional 93,699 shares during the period. Finally, Resolution Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 7.6% during the first quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd now owns 59,995 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,318,000 after acquiring an additional 4,255 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.