Duke Energy Corp. (DUK)
Duke is a large, regulated U.S. electricity company with a focus on southern states such as Florida and North Carolina. That has served the company well as these states have generally had strong economies with healthy population and economic growth. Duke also recently received a favorable rate agreement with regulators in North Carolina. Like many utility stocks, Duke Energy shares significantly lagged the market in 2023. This came about in large part due to higher interest rates, which lowered the appeal of dividend stocks. With interest rates expected to decline, however, the outlook should be better for the electric utilities in 2024. That's doubly true as Duke is planning to invest $65 billion in capital works between 2023 and 2027 and so a fall in interest rates should save it a considerable amount in terms of debt service.
Duke is a large, regulated U.S. electricity company with a focus on southern states such as Florida and North Carolina. That has served the company well as these states have generally had strong economies with healthy population and economic growth. Duke also recently received a favorable rate agreement with regulators in North Carolina. Like many utility stocks, Duke Energy shares significantly lagged the market in 2023. This came about in large part due to higher interest rates, which lowered the appeal of dividend stocks. With interest rates expected to decline, however, the outlook should be better for the electric utilities in 2024. That's doubly true as Duke is planning to invest $65 billion in capital works between 2023 and 2027 and so a fall in interest rates should save it a considerable amount in terms of debt service.