Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target Increased to $121.00 by Analysts at KeyCorp

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at KeyCorp from $117.00 to $121.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. KeyCorp’s target price points to a potential upside of 2.47% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.23.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.7 %

Duke Energy stock opened at $118.08 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. Duke Energy has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $118.18. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.12. The stock has a market cap of $91.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 109.4% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 2,285 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 7,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $222,000. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 26,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,608,000 after acquiring an additional 1,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 5,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.