The latest trading session saw Duke Energy (DUK – Free Report) ending at $118.21, denoting a +1.35% adjustment from its last day’s close. The stock’s change was more than the S&P 500’s daily loss of 0.91%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 1.5%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.96%.
Prior to today’s trading, shares of the electric utility had gained 0.23% over the past month. This has outpaced the Utilities sector’s loss of 0.13% and the S&P 500’s loss of 7.38% in that time.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Duke Energy in its forthcoming earnings report. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $1.60, marking a 11.11% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $7.99 billion, up 4.1% from the year-ago period.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $6.32 per share and a revenue of $31.77 billion, indicating changes of +7.12% and +4.66%, respectively, from the former year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Duke Energy. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company’s business and profitability.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To exploit this, we’ve formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.14% lower. At present, Duke Energy boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at valuation, Duke Energy is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 18.45. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 17.86 for its industry.
Meanwhile, DUK’s PEG ratio is currently 2.91. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company’s expected earnings growth rate into account. The Utility – Electric Power was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.6 at yesterday’s closing price.
The Utility – Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 84, finds itself in the top 34% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.
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