Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

Analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK – Get Rating) in a research report issued on Thursday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on DUK. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $112.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $103.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.64.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.8 %

DUK stock opened at $96.83 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.51. Duke Energy has a 52-week low of $83.76 and a 52-week high of $116.33. The company has a 50-day moving average of $99.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.42.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 8.45%. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy will post 5.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Louis E. Renjel sold 1,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.90, for a total value of $189,810.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $995,703.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 6.9% during the third quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 69,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,440,000 after buying an additional 4,442 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 17.8% during the second quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $593,000 after buying an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.8% during the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,999 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,767,000 after buying an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 104.5% during the second quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $587,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gofen & Glossberg LLC IL increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.9% during the third quarter. Gofen & Glossberg LLC IL now owns 12,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,160,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.22% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Company Profile

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Duke Energy Corp. engages in the distribution of natural gas and energy related services. It operates through the following segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure, Gas Utilities & Infrastructure and Commercial Renewables. The Electric Utilities and Infrastructure segment conducts operations in regulated electric utilities in the Carolinas, Florida and the Midwest.