Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target to $122.00

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price objective upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $110.00 to $122.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on DUK. Scotiabank cut their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $106.75.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

DUK stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $112.67. 2,218,742 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,968,208. The stock has a market cap of $86.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Duke Energy has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $116.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $104.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $99.43.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 105.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total transaction of $173,415.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 4 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $409.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Duke Energy news, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total transaction of $173,415.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 4 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $409.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 21,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 15,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,516,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $120,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 77,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,532,000 after purchasing an additional 5,312 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.