Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target Lowered to $127.00 at Morgan Stanley

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $129.00 to $127.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on DUK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $127.00 price objective (up from $124.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.00.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $122.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $95.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.52. Duke Energy has a 12-month low of $105.20 and a 12-month high of $127.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $7.51 billion for 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 period last year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. 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 fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.065 per share. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 69.27%.

Insider Activity

In other Duke Energy news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total transaction of $248,760.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 19,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total transaction of $832,542.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,768,397.72. The trade was 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 company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 338.6% in the first quarter. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 37,763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,606,000 after buying an additional 29,153 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 7.7% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 291,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,575,000 after buying an additional 20,942 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 9.9% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 127,419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,451,000 after buying an additional 11,445 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 8.1% in the first quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 51,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,264,000 after buying an additional 3,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,656,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,055,087,000 after buying an additional 93,699 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Company Profile

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.