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About Cabling Installation & Maintenance

Our mission: Bringing practical business and technical intelligence to today's structured cabling professionals

For more than 30 years, Cabling Installation & Maintenance has provided useful, practical information to professionals responsible for the specification, design, installation and management of structured cabling systems serving enterprise, data center and other environments. These professionals are challenged to stay informed of constantly evolving standards, system-design and installation approaches, product and system capabilities, technologies, as well as applications that rely on high-performance structured cabling systems. Our editors synthesize these complex issues into multiple information products. This portfolio of information products provides concrete detail that improves the efficiency of day-to-day operations, and equips cabling professionals with the perspective that enables strategic planning for networks’ optimum long-term performance.

Throughout our annual magazine, weekly email newsletters and 24/7/365 website, Cabling Installation & Maintenance digs into the essential topics our audience focuses on.

  • Design, Installation and Testing: We explain the bottom-up design of cabling systems, from case histories of actual projects to solutions for specific problems or aspects of the design process. We also look at specific installations using a case-history approach to highlight challenging problems, solutions and unique features. Additionally, we examine evolving test-and-measurement technologies and techniques designed to address the standards-governed and practical-use performance requirements of cabling systems.
  • Technology: We evaluate product innovations and technology trends as they impact a particular product class through interviews with manufacturers, installers and users, as well as contributed articles from subject-matter experts.
  • Data Center: Cabling Installation & Maintenance takes an in-depth look at design and installation workmanship issues as well as the unique technology being deployed specifically for data centers.
  • Physical Security: Focusing on the areas in which security and IT—and the infrastructure for both—interlock and overlap, we pay specific attention to Internet Protocol’s influence over the development of security applications.
  • Standards: Tracking the activities of North American and international standards-making organizations, we provide updates on specifications that are in-progress, looking forward to how they will affect cabling-system design and installation. We also produce articles explaining the practical aspects of designing and installing cabling systems in accordance with the specifications of established standards.

Cabling Installation & Maintenance is published by Endeavor Business Media, a division of EndeavorB2B.

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Is Duke Energy stock ready to power up in 2024?

By: MarketBeat

Duke Energy stock price

Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) is down 3.9% since missing on the top and bottom lines in its fourth quarter and full-year 2023 earnings report on February 8, 2023. It was the second consecutive quarter the company missed on revenue.  

This isn't surprising to investors. Rising interest rates have affected the utility sector, which was the worst-performing sector in 2023. But with the possibility of lower, or at least stable, interest rates in 2024, it may be time for prudent investors to consider the total return they can get from utility stocks.  

In that case, DUK stock looks like a solid choice.  

Utilities look ready to mount a comeback 

The utilities sector was the worst-performing sector in 2023. This was a real adjustment for buy-and-hold investors who had become used to approximately 11% returns in the utility sector since the financial crisis in 2008.  

The catalyst for the strong performance was low interest rates. This helps utility companies keep their capital costs low as they invest in new projects.  

However, utilities tend to underperform the market in a rising interest rate environment. In this case, rising interest rates meant that investors began to take a closer look at premium valuations. And that meant 2023 was a rough year for utilities stocks. The Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA: XLU) is down over 10% in the last 52 weeks.  

Historically, sectors that underperform in one year tend to outperform the following year. The case for utilities is in their fundamentals, which look more appealing as valuations have come down.  

But what to buy? You could buy shares of a fund like the XLU and call it a day. But there may be an argument for being more selective. And Duke Energy looks like a strong choice.  

Like real estate, location matters 

Duke Energy supplies electricity to approximately 8.2 million customers in six states, including North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. The company also supplies natural gas to over 1.6 million customers in five states which also include the Carolinas.  

This is significant because, as in real estate, location matters in the utility markets. The Carolinas and Florida have been three of the states that have gained the most population since 2020. In its most recent earnings presentation, Duke reported 2.1% customer growth in the Carolinas and 2% in Florida from 2022 to 2023.  

And in that same presentation, Duke gave evidence of the correlation between total population growth and energy consumption, which will keep the company's revenue strong.  

Is DUK stock a buy? 

Analyst sentiment is softening a little bit. Since the earnings report was released. The Duke Energy analyst ratings on MarketBeat show several analysts lowering their price targets since the earnings release.  

However, the price targets are still above the current DUK stock price and would mean stock price growth of 7.9%. That would be welcome news to investors who have seen the stock only return around 2.6% in the last five years.  

And investors are getting Duke stock at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49. That aligns with the sector average and well below the stock's ten-year average of over 26x earnings.  

For its part, Duke is projecting an average total return of approximately 10% between now and 2028. That presumes between 5% and 7% earnings growth. In the next 12 months, Duke estimates 6% earnings growth to go along with the company's dividend, which currently yields 4.43%.  

To sum it up, if you're looking to beat the market, there may be better options. But if you're looking for equities that may keep you ahead of inflation, DUK stock looks like a solid choice.  

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