Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target Raised to $126.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price target hoisted by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $120.00 to $126.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 7.95% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on DUK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley upped 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 report on Thursday, August 15th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.69.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of DUK stock opened at $116.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.33, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $103.49. Duke Energy has a 1 year low of $83.06 and a 1 year high of $118.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $557,000. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the second quarter valued at $1,907,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the second quarter worth $12,749,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the second quarter worth $208,000. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9.0% during the second quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.