This was a close call for me, but in the end I decided I would only include one power company on my stock list for 2008, and this was not it. I recommended Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK) last year and wrote about the company numerous times.
Duke pays a handsome dividend yield of 4.29%, and will likely see some growth next year as investors look for stability. This year it was relatively flat. That might be good enough if the market ends in turmoil next year, but I expect it to trade below the Dow Industrials even if it trades ahead of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
If you are just starting out and building a new portfolio for the long term, Duke Energy is definitely a good conservative beginning. It would be in my top 20 picks, but it just got crowded out of my list of eight. DUK had a closing price of $20.56 Wednesday.
To find potential opportunities and verify my track record, read Chasing Value or Serious Money.
DISCLOSURE: We own shares of DUK in several portfolios. We bought in between $18 - $19 a share for a long term hold.
Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-28-2007 @ 5:43AM
al coholic said...
Duke's stock price may decline as it's new nuclear ventures get mired down as the usual accusations of hushed up safety reports and other environmental and anti-nuke advocates make sure all the dirty laundry they can find is brought to light. And you can be sure there will be some. It wasn't too too long ago that allegations of coverups in their Occonee inspections surfaced.
Of course the climate is as right as it's going to be for nuclear power plant construction but as the first application in thirty years it will be subject to immense scrutiny and could become a huge emotional issue.