Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $137.9375.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $140.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $139.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Evercore upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $139.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, July 31st.

Key Duke Energy News

Here are the key news stories impacting Duke Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy restored power to customers in Greenville and Spartanburg counties after severe thunderstorms. The relatively quick restoration limits the potential financial and reputational impact of the outages. Power restored after storms in Spartanburg County
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America’s view that dividend-paying stocks may provide stability in choppy markets could be generally supportive for regulated utilities such as Duke, although the report’s supplied details do not identify a specific recommendation for DUK. BofA names dividend stocks for stability
• Neutral Sentiment: An analysis describes DUK as potentially undervalued by about 13%, but says regulatory proceedings involving PJM and Florida tariff treatment for large customers could affect future cost allocation between shareholders and customers. The potential valuation upside is therefore balanced by policy risk. Duke Energy could be undervalued as regulatory questions build
• Negative Sentiment: Duke’s newly issued equity units may strengthen funding flexibility, but the financing also raises concerns about additional issuance and potential dilution for existing shareholders. Duke Energy newly issued equity units
• Negative Sentiment: Residents and organizers are protesting Duke’s proposed Davidson-Davie gas complex, while a separate petition effort in St. Petersburg seeks to place an anti-Duke measure on the ballot. Opposition could delay projects, increase compliance costs or create additional political risk. Debate over Davie-Davidson Energy Complex

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DUK. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 12,624.6% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 114,736,922 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,523,400,000 after acquiring an additional 113,835,227 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $605,680,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $358,227,000 after purchasing an additional 2,684,721 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,258,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,172,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $244,731,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $120.20 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $93.72 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Duke Energy has a one year low of $113.89 and a one year high of $134.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $125.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.61.

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

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.085 per share. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. This represents a $4.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.17%.

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based electric power holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company’s core business is the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Duke Energy operates a mix of regulated electric utilities and non-regulated energy businesses, providing essential energy infrastructure and services across multiple states.

Its operating activities include owning and operating generation assets across a portfolio that encompasses nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and an expanding array of renewable resources, as well as battery storage and grid modernization projects.