Topic: Dividend Stocks

CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD – Toronto symbols CU

CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD. (Toronto symbols CU [class A non-voting] $67 and CU.X [class B voting] $67; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 127.6 million; Market cap: $8.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.canadianutilities.com) distributes electricity and natural gas in Alberta. It also operates 18 power plants in Canada, Australia and the U.K. ATCO Ltd. (see page 104) owns 52.7% of the company.

Canadian Utilities continues to benefit from last year’s $1.1-billion purchase of a company that distributes natural gas in Perth, Australia. That helped offset lower revenues from its Alberta power plants due to planned maintenance shutdowns.

As a result, the company’s earnings rose 5.6% in the second quarter of 2012, to $95 million, or $0.74 a share. The new Australian business added $16 million to that total. A year earlier, Canadian Utilities earned $90 million, or $0.70 a share. Revenue rose 6.0%, to $706 million from $666 million.

The company will probably earn $3.97 a share in 2012. The stock trades at 16.9 times that estimate. The $1.77 dividend yields 2.6%.

Canadian Utilities is a buy. The more liquid class A non-voting shares are the better choice.

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