Duke Energy (DUK) closed at $104.76 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.18% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500’s daily gain of 0.14%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.25%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.34%.
Heading into today, shares of the electric utility had gained 7.79% over the past month, outpacing the Utilities sector’s gain of 5.93% and the S&P 500’s gain of 4.32% in that time.
Duke Energy will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect Duke Energy to post earnings of $0.99 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 3.88%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $6.15 billion, up 6.53% from the year-ago period.
DUK’s full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $5.22 per share and revenue of $25.02 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +1.95% and +4.81%, respectively.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Duke Energy. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company’s business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.03% higher. Duke Energy is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
In terms of valuation, Duke Energy is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 20.03. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 19.72, so we one might conclude that Duke Energy is trading at a premium comparatively.
It is also worth noting that DUK currently has a PEG ratio of 3.79. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company’s expected earnings growth rate. The Utility – Electric Power industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 3.63 as of yesterday’s close.
The Utility – Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 154, putting it in the bottom 40% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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