Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK): Ex-Dividend Is In 7 Days, Should You Buy?
If you are interested in cashing in on Duke Energy Corporation’s (NYSE:DUK) upcoming dividend of $0.89 per share, you only have 7 days left to buy the shares before its ex-dividend date, 17 May 2018, in time for dividends payable on the 18 June 2018. Is this future income stream a compelling catalyst for dividend investors to think about the stock as an investment today? Let’s take a look at Duke Energy’s most recent financial data to examine its dividend characteristics in more detail. See our latest analysis for Duke Energy
What Is A Dividend Rock Star?
It is a stock that pays a consistent, reliable and competitive dividend over a long period of time, and is expected to continue to pay in the same manner many years to come. More specifically: It is paying an annual yield above 75% of dividend payers It consistently pays out dividend without missing a payment or significantly cutting payout Its dividend per share amount has increased over the past It is able to pay the current rate of dividends from its earnings It has the ability to keep paying its dividends going forward
High Yield And Dependable
Duke Energy currently yields 4.57%, which is high for Electric Utilities stocks. But the real reason Duke Energy stands out is because it has a high chance of being able to continue to pay dividend at this level for years to come, something that is quite desirable if you are looking to create a portfolio that generates a steady stream of income.
If there’s one type of stock you want to be reliable, it’s dividend stocks and their stable income-generating ability. In the case of DUK it has increased its DPS from $2.64 to $3.56 in the past 10 years. During this period it has not missed a payment, as one would expect for a company increasing its dividend. This is an impressive feat, which makes DUK a true dividend rockstar. The current trailing twelve-month payout ratio for the stock is 79.86%, which means that the dividend is covered by earnings. In the near future, analysts are predicting a payout ratio of 76.64%, leading to a dividend yield of around 4.95%. Furthermore, EPS should increase to $4.73.
Next Steps:
With Duke Energy producing strong dividend income for your portfolio over the past few years, you can take comfort in knowing that this stock will still continue to be a top dividend generator moving forward. However, given this is purely a dividend analysis, I urge potential investors to try and get a good understanding of the underlying business and its fundamentals before deciding on an investment. I’ve put together three essential aspects you should look at:
Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for DUK’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for DUK’s outlook.
Valuation: What is DUK worth today? Even if the stock is a cash cow, it’s not worth an infinite price. The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether DUK is currently mispriced by the market.
Other Dividend Rockstars: Are there strong dividend payers with better fundamentals out there? Check out our free list of these great stocks here.
To help readers see pass the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned.
