Duke Energy Corporation (DUK) To Go Ex-Dividend on November 13th

Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $1.0850 per share by the utilities provider on Wednesday, December 16th. This represents a $4.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th.

Duke Energy has a payout ratio of 64.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Duke Energy to earn $7.16 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.34 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 60.6%.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.7%

DUK stock opened at $128.96 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $120.18 and a 200 day moving average of $124.61. The firm has a market cap of $100.55 billion, a PE ratio of 18.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.33. Duke Energy has a twelve month low of $112.40 and a twelve month high of $134.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.13. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.82% and a net margin of 15.94%. The business had revenue of $9.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 6.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price 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. HSBC began coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $123.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp cut their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.19.

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy is a U.S. energy company focused primarily on regulated electric utilities and natural gas distribution. Its businesses generate, transmit and distribute electricity, and provide natural gas service to residential, commercial and industrial customers. The company serves electric customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. Its natural gas distribution operations serve customers in several states, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.