Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Short Interest Update

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) saw a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,400,000 shares, a drop of 10.6% from the March 15th total of 9,400,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,060,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.17.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. CKW Financial Group purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, O Dell Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $92.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $71.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Duke Energy has a 1 year low of $83.06 and a 1 year high of $100.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $94.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.21.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

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.