Electric and natural gas utility Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) just reached a settlement agreement with environmentalists and regulators over the cleanup of coal waste. If approved, it will remove an issue that's been hanging over the company for some time. But is that enough to make Duke a buy for your portfolio?
At its core, Duke isn't a particularly exciting company. It generates and distributes electricity to 7.7 million customers in six states and distributes natural gas to 1.6 million customers in four states. It has a contract-based renewable power business, but it's relatively small compared to its traditional utility operations. Duke is the prototypical conservative utility, so safe and consistent that even the most risk averse investors could feel comfortable owning it.
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Source Fool.com