Company Update (NYSE:DUK): Piedmont Natural Gas Shareholders Approve Acquisition by Duke Energy

[PR Newswire] – The proposal to approve the acquisition was supported by 66.8% percent of the company’s outstanding shares entitled to vote. The Federal Trade Commission has granted early termination of the 30-day waiting period under the federal Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act with regard to the acquisition. Read more on this. Duke Energy Corporation (DUK) , valued at $48.98B, opened at $71.58. Looking at the stock, its one day range is $70.95 to $71.63 and has traded between $65.50 and $89.97 over the past 12 months. DUK shares are currently priced at 15.52x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry ’s 2.95x forward p/e ratio. And for income investors, the company pays shareholders $3.30 per share annually in dividends, yielding 4.51%. Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 15 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $0.91 per share, which would be $0.05 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.01 sequential decrease. What we find to be interesting is that the full-year EPS estimate of $4.58 is a $0.03 better when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $6.45 Billion. If realized, that would be a 16.01% increase over the year-ago quarter. In terms of ratings, BofA/Merrill upgraded DUK from Underperform to Neutral (Jan 12, 2016). Previously, Scotia Howard Weil Initiated DUK at to Sector Perform. When considering if the stock is under or overvalued, the average price target is $75.89, which is 6.02% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:DUK) Similar Articles: Stock Update: Duke Energy Corp (NYSE:DUK) – Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas file with North Carolina Utilities Commission for acquisition approval Market Update (NYSE:DUK): Duke Energy designates Yoho to lead Natural Gas Operations upon completion of the Piedmont acquisition Market Update: Duke Energy Corp (NYSE:DUK) – SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP Notifies Shareholders of Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. of Commencement of an Investigation Concerning the Fairness of the Sale of the Company to Duke Energy Corp. — PNY