BMO Capital Markets Lowers Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target to $123.00

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its target price cut by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $128.00 to $123.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 3.52% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on DUK. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.87.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $118.81 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $92.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. Duke Energy has a 1 year low of $92.75 and a 1 year high of $125.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.90.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 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.