Barclays Raises Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target to $102.00

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price objective upped by Barclays from $99.00 to $102.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on DUK. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $102.42.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $105.39 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The company has a market capitalization of $81.34 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.76. Duke Energy has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $105.90.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Duke Energy will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a $1.025 dividend. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 4 shares in the company, valued at $409.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total value of $1,027,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 68,657 shares in the company, valued at $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total transaction of $173,415.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4 shares in the company, valued at approximately $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DUK. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 9,164.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $95,031,000 after buying an additional 968,723 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Duke Energy by 4,163.9% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 882,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $85,352,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Duke Energy by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $799,599,000 after purchasing an additional 842,458 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Duke Energy by 242.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,044,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $101,348,000 after purchasing an additional 739,112 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Duke Energy by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,141,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,081,125,000 after purchasing an additional 509,039 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

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.