Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) PT Raised to $113.00

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price objective upped by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $102.00 to $113.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 0.62% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on DUK. KeyCorp raised their price target on Duke Energy from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays raised their price target on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.69.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK opened at $113.70 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $105.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $99.71. Duke Energy has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $116.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market cap of $87.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.57, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was 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 directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 69.6% in the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter worth $30,000. 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.