Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Now Covered by TD Cowen

TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) in a research report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $143.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on DUK. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $143.00 target price for the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.08.

Duke Energy Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $127.43 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.09 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.44. Duke Energy has a 1 year low of $105.20 and a 1 year high of $129.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $123.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. Analysts expect that Duke Energy will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $1.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.27%.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total transaction of $832,542.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,768,397.72. The trade was a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total value of $248,760.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,438,843.04. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 17.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,663,000 after buying an additional 2,061 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 1.6% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,298 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,744,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 10.5% during the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 22,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,739,000 after buying an additional 2,139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in Duke Energy by 3.2% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 90,915 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,088,000 after buying an additional 2,805 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Company Profile

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.