Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on DUK. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $139.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $133.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $132.73.

Duke Energy Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of DUK opened at $119.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Duke Energy has a 12 month low of $112.40 and a 12 month high of $134.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $118.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.65. The firm has a market cap of $92.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.21, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.36.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.66 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 15.78%. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Duke Energy will post 6.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be paid a $1.0850 dividend. This represents a $4.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $605,680,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 5,254.4% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,735,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $358,227,000 after purchasing an additional 2,684,721 shares during the period. Cullen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $244,731,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $100,586,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $88,657,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy Corporation is an energy holding company that provides regulated electric and natural gas utility services in the United States. Its electric utilities generate, transmit, distribute and sell electricity to residential, commercial, industrial and other customers. The company’s generation portfolio includes nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources.

Duke Energy serves customers primarily in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.