Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, electricity giant Duke Energy (DUK -0.34%) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Duke and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Duke facts

Headquarters (founded)

Charlotte, N.C. (1916)

Market Cap

$48.5 billion

Industry

Electric utilities

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$19.6 billion

Management

Chairman/CEO James Rogers, Jr.

CFO Lynn Good

Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)

6.3%

Cash / Debt

$1.8 billion / $40.5 billion

Dividend Yield

4.5%

Competitors

American Electric Power

CenterPoint Energy

Southern

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 95% of the 1,955 members who have rated Duke believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just yesterday, one of those bulls, fellow Fool Justin Loiseau (TMFJLo), kindly updated our community to the Duke opportunity:

Duke recognizes that spending today will mean saving (and earning) tomorrow. During the Q&A portion of the earnings call, [CEO James Rogers] went so far as to make a direct jab at one of his company's competitors: "Our modernization plan is ahead of most utilities in the country. If you look at Southern today, they are just now starting down the road of modernization of their generation fleet." I fact-checked Rogers, and he's right. In the past three years, Southern has spent 26% of its sales on capital expenditures, while Duke has doled out 32%. With legal battles behind it and a solid fourth quarter, I'm ready to make an "outperform" call on Duke

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