KeyCorp Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Duke Energy Earnings

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) – KeyCorp cut their Q3 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Duke Energy in a report issued on Monday, October 21st. KeyCorp analyst S. Karp now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings of $1.68 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.90. KeyCorp has a “Sector Weight” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Duke Energy’s current full-year earnings is $5.97 per share. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Duke Energy’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.60 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $5.98 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $6.34 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $7.13 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $7.62 EPS.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.85.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $117.21 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.45, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy has a 52-week low of $86.61 and a 52-week high of $121.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,500,000 after buying an additional 6,719,398 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 13,829.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,782,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117,526 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 65.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,769,000 after acquiring an additional 813,744 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9,923.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 769,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,103,000 after acquiring an additional 761,590 shares during the period. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth $36,278,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 105.03%.

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.