Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Stock

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price target upped by analysts at Barclays from $111.00 to $123.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 5.67% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.20.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.4 %

Duke Energy stock opened at $116.40 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $90.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. Duke Energy has a twelve month low of $92.75 and a twelve month high of $125.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $116.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.88.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. As a group, analysts expect that Duke Energy will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bcwm LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth $9,815,000. Bailard Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 31,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,439,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139 shares in the last quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 52,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,705 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 35,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,852,000 after purchasing an additional 7,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Business Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $384,000. 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.