Morgan Stanley Cuts Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target to $124.00

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $124.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on DUK. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $127.00 target price (up from $126.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.75.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $115.42 on Wednesday. Duke Energy has a fifty-two week low of $99.21 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27. The stock has a market cap of $89.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.14, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.37. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 15.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Duke Energy will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 69.32%.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Americana Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 4,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $518,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its position in Duke Energy by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 101,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,945,000 after buying an additional 11,154 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 1,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

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.