Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Downgraded by Credit Suisse Group to “Neutral”

Credit Suisse Group lowered shares of Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK – Get Rating) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $114.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $112.00.

DUK has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, July 21st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $110.00 in a report on Monday, July 18th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $121.00 to $116.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 19th. UBS Group lowered shares of Duke Energy from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $122.00 to $112.00 in a report on Thursday, June 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $109.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $111.91.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $109.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. Duke Energy has a twelve month low of $95.48 and a twelve month high of $116.33. The stock has a market cap of $84.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s fifty day moving average is $106.71 and its 200 day moving average is $107.24.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.18 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.79 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 14.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 12th will be given a $1.005 dividend. This represents a $4.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 11th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Steven K. Young sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.75, for a total transaction of $44,716.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 114,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,291,258. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,245 shares of company stock valued at $137,021. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Carl Stuart Investment Advisor Inc. bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. 62.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Duke Energy

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Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure, Gas Utilities and Infrastructure, and Commercial Renewables. The Electric Utilities and Infrastructure segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest; and uses coal, hydroelectric, natural gas, oil, renewable generation, and nuclear fuel to generate electricity.