KeyCorp Boosts Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target to $117.00

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price objective raised by research analysts at KeyCorp from $114.00 to $117.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. KeyCorp’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 2.50% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on DUK. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.92.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK traded up $0.43 on Wednesday, reaching $114.15. 815,286 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,953,479. The firm has a market cap of $88.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $105.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.71. Duke Energy has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $116.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duke Energy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4,163.9% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 882,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $85,352,000 after acquiring an additional 861,854 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $799,599,000 after buying an additional 842,458 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 9,923.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 769,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,103,000 after buying an additional 761,590 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,141,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,081,125,000 after buying an additional 509,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,874,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently 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.