Scotiabank Increases Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target to $113.00

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price target lifted by research analysts at Scotiabank from $104.00 to $113.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 0.26% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.85.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $112.71 on Tuesday. Duke Energy has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $116.67. The company has a market capitalization of $86.98 billion, a PE ratio of 28.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $106.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.38.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $219,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 39.4% during the 4th quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 2,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 435,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,084,000 after purchasing an additional 13,406 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 57.8% during the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 27,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 9,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 182.5% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 39,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,786,000 after acquiring an additional 25,203 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.