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Duke Energy (DUK) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Duke Energy (DUK - Free Report) closed at $91.69, marking a +0.92% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.22% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 1.26%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 4.63%.

Heading into today, shares of the electric utility had lost 2.33% over the past month, outpacing the Utilities sector's loss of 3.42% and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 6.22% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Duke Energy as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect Duke Energy to post earnings of $1.14 per share. This would mark no growth from the year-ago period. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $6.7 billion, up 0.17% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $5.61 per share and revenue of $29.41 billion. These totals would mark changes of +6.45% and +0.93%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Duke Energy. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.09% lower within the past month. Duke Energy is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, Duke Energy is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 16.19. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 16.7, so we one might conclude that Duke Energy is trading at a discount comparatively.

Meanwhile, DUK's PEG ratio is currently 2.65. 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. DUK's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.83 as of yesterday's close.

The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 61, which puts it in the top 25% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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