Bank of America Boosts Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) Price Target to $118.00

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) had its price objective upped by equities research analysts at Bank of America from $116.00 to $118.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 4.75% from the stock’s previous close.

DUK has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.92.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Duke Energy stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $112.65. The stock had a trading volume of 560,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,939,534. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $107.16 and its 200 day moving average is $100.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $116.67.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 69.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.