Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target Cut to $118.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price objective dropped by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $118.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 2.55% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also commented on DUK. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.69.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

DUK traded up $0.21 on Friday, reaching $115.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 718,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,064,210. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Duke Energy has a 1 year low of $89.92 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The business’s 50 day moving average is $115.19 and its 200 day moving average is $109.59. The stock has a market cap of $88.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 69.6% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the second quarter worth $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. 65.31% of the stock is 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.