Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target Cut to $94.00 by Analysts at Scotiabank

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price objective cut by equities researchers at Scotiabank from $101.00 to $94.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sector perform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target suggests a potential downside of 4.28% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on DUK. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.62.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $98.20 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Duke Energy has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $100.39. The company has a market cap of $75.76 billion, a PE ratio of 27.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.60.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. CKW Financial Group acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.