Bank of America Raises Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target to $100.00

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) had its target price hoisted by Bank of America from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the utilities provider's stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and increased their price target for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $100.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Duke Energy from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their price target for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $101.00.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK traded down $0.12 during trading on Thursday, reaching $95.29. 2,105,690 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,046,318. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Duke Energy has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $100.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.09. The firm has a market cap of $73.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. Duke Energy's revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DUK. CKW Financial Group bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. O Dell Group LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

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.