BMO Capital Markets Trims Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Target Price to $99.00

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price target lowered by BMO Capital Markets from $101.00 to $99.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Duke Energy from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Duke Energy from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their price target for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $101.17.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.5 %

DUK opened at $95.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.01 billion, a PE ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Duke Energy has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $100.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $94.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.24.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Duke Energy will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DUK. CKW Financial Group acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, O Dell Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by 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.