Here's Why You Should Add Duke Energy Stock to Your Portfolio Now

Duke Energy’s DUK systemic investments to modernize infrastructure and expanding renewable generation portfolio are likely to further enhance the reliability of its operations. Given its growth opportunities, Duke Energy makes for a solid investment option in the Utility sector.

Let’s focus on the factors that make this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company a strong investment pick at the moment.

DUK’s Growth Projections & Surprise History

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DUK’s 2024 earnings per share (is pinned at $5.97, which indicates year-over-year growth of 7.4%.

The consensus estimate for 2024 sales is pinned at $30.42 billion, which indicates year-over-year growth of 4.7%.

The company’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate is 6.1%.

DUK has a positive earnings surprise history. Its trailing four-quarter earnings surprise is 4.88%, on average.

DUK’s Solvency

The time-to-interest earned ratio at the end of the second quarter of 2024 was 2.61. The ratio, being greater than one, reflects the company’s ability to meet future interest obligations without difficulties.

DUK’s Dividend Yield

Duke Energy has been consistently paying dividends to its shareholders. Currently, its dividend yield is 3.49%, better than the Zacks S&P 500 composite’s 1.22%.

DUK’s Systematic Investments

Duke Energy is currently focused on expanding its scale of operations, implementing modern technologies at its facilities and enhancing its renewable generation portfolio by investing heavily in infrastructure and expansion projects. The company expects investments to be in the range of $170-$180 billion over the next 10 years. It also projects an investment of $73.4 billion during the 2024-2028 period.

DUK Stock’s Price Performance

In the past six months, the stock has gained 27.3% compared with the industry’s 22.2% growth.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Other Stocks to Consider

Other top-ranked stocks from the same industry are Entergy ETR, DTE Energy DTE and Xcel Energy XEL. DTE sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) while ETR and XEL carry a Zacks Rank of 2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

ETR’s long-term earnings growth rate is 7.3%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ETR’s 2024 sales indicates year-over-year growth of 0.5%.

DTE’s long-term earnings growth rate is 8.1%. The consensus estimate for DTE’s 2024 sales indicates year-over-year growth of 4.3.

XEL’s long-term earnings growth rate is 6.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for XEL’s 2024 sales indicates year-over-year growth of 2.3%.

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Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Entergy Corporation (ETR): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Duke Energy Corporation (DUK): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
DTE Energy Company (DTE): Free Stock Analysis Report

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