Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target Lowered to $118.00 at Morgan Stanley

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its target price reduced by Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $118.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.69.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $115.00 on Friday. Duke Energy has a 52-week low of $90.09 and a 52-week high of $121.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.14, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.88.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 69.6% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 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.