Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at BTIG Research

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) was upgraded by analysts at BTIG Research to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $143.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank set a $137.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $143.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.36.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK opened at $128.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $100.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $123.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.29. Duke Energy has a twelve month low of $105.20 and a twelve month high of $130.03.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.07 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Duke Energy will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total transaction of $248,760.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total value of $832,542.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,768,397.72. This trade represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,716,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,934,580,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154,783 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,684,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,205,070,000 after acquiring an additional 319,001 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11,417.7% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,668,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,084,917,000 after acquiring an additional 17,515,383 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 17,880.0% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,249,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,250,133,000 after acquiring an additional 10,192,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,921,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,088,158,000 after acquiring an additional 418,014 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by 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.