Duke Energy Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:DUK)

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors acquired 5,225 call options on the company. This is an increase of 50% compared to the average daily volume of 3,478 call options.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.1 %

Duke Energy stock opened at $98.20 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.76 billion, a PE ratio of 27.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $100.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $94.44 and a 200-day moving average of $93.60.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DUK. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,030,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,157 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 9,164.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $95,031,000 after purchasing an additional 968,723 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $799,599,000 after purchasing an additional 842,458 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 242.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,044,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $101,348,000 after purchasing an additional 739,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 11.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,205,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $635,952,000 after purchasing an additional 715,069 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

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.