KeyCorp Boosts Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target to $114.00

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price target raised by KeyCorp from $112.00 to $114.00 in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Duke Energy’s Q2 2024 earnings at $1.01 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $1.90 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.65 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $7.54 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho upped their target price on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $102.58.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $107.57 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $102.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The company has a market capitalization of $83.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.03, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $110.02.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Duke Energy will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total value of $1,027,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,057,253.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DUK. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 9,164.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $95,031,000 after acquiring an additional 968,723 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4,163.9% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 882,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $85,352,000 after acquiring an additional 861,854 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $799,599,000 after acquiring an additional 842,458 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,141,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,081,125,000 after acquiring an additional 509,039 shares during the period. Finally, Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,874,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by 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.