Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Duke Energy (DUK) Rewards Shareholders With Dividend Hike

Published 07/10/2019, 08:56 AM
Updated 07/09/2023, 06:31 AM

Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) recently announced that the board of directors has approved a quarterly cash dividend of 94.5 cents per share on its common stock. This will mark a quarterly increase of 1.75 cents or 1.85%. The dividend will be payable on Sep 16, 2019 to stockholders on record as of Aug 16.

Reasons for theHike

Duke Energy has been raising cash dividend for 93 consecutive years. The current dividend yield is pegged at 4.15%, which is higher than the industry’s 2.88% and Zacks S&P 500 composites’ 1.88%. The company generated cash flow from operations of $7.19 billion in 2018 compared with $6.62 billion in 2017. Based on its financial strength, the company expects to maintain its long-term dividend payout ratio in the range of 65-75% of its adjusted earnings per share through 2023.

Moreover, Duke Energy has been making capital investments in its infrastructure and expansion projects across service territories. Currently, the company intends to invest around $37 billion in overall growth projects for the 2019-2023 time frame. This is likely to drive earnings in the combined electric and gas businesses by approximately 6% over the next five years. With further investments, the company expects to achieve earnings growth rate of 4-6% through 2023.

Importance of Dividend Hike in Utility Space

The Utilities sector provides basic electric, water and gas services. The sector is independent of fluctuations in the economy. Stable earnings and cash flow enable utilities to reward shareholders with regular dividends and share buybacks. This enables utility players to generate steady revenues and cash flows, which positions them in investors’ good books.

Other than Duke Energy, there are other utilities that have raised their dividend rates during the first half of 2019. In January, ONEOK, Inc.’s (NYSE:OKE) board of directors announced a quarterly dividend hike to 86 cents per share, up 12% year over year. This will lead to an annualized dividend of $3.44. In June, National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) announced that the board of directors has approved a 2.4% increase in the quarterly dividend rate. The revised quarterly dividend will be 43.5 cents.

Zacks Rank & Key Pick

Duke Energy currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).A better ranked stock in the same industry is DTE Energy Company (NYSE:DTE) , carrying a Zacks Rank of 2 (Hold).You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

DTE Energy pulled off an average positive earnings surprise of 12.24% in the last four quarters. The company’s long-term earnings growth is pegged at 6%.

Price Movement

In the past month, shares of Duke Energy have gained 4.4% compared with the industry’s rise of 3.2%.

Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential

The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. They’re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases.

Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +98%, +119% and +164% in as little as 1 month. The stocks in this report could perform even better.

See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>>



DTE Energy Company (DTE): Free Stock Analysis Report

Duke Energy Corporation (DUK): Free Stock Analysis Report

National Fuel Gas Company (NFG): Free Stock Analysis Report

ONEOK, Inc. (OKE): Free Stock Analysis Report

Original post

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.