Topic: Dividend Stocks

CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD. – Toronto symbols CU [class A non-voting] $41 and CU.X [class B voting]

CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD. (Toronto symbols CU [class A non-voting] $41 and CU.X [class B voting] $41; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 261.0 million; Market cap: $10.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.2; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www. canadianutilities.com) distributes electricity and natural gas in Alberta and Australia. It also operates 18 power plants in Canada, Australia and the U.K. ATCO Ltd. (see right) owns 53.1% of the company.

Canadian Utilities continues to invest in projects that will make Alberta’s electricity grid more reliable. For example, it recently spent $650 million to build 355 kilometres of new transmission lines and substations in the province’s southeast.

Thanks to these new assets, Canadian Utilities earned $587 million in 2013, up 6.1% from $553 million in 2012. Earnings per share rose 3.5%, to $2.09 from $2.02, on more shares outstanding. Without unusual items, mainly deferred payments from or refunds paid to customers, earnings would have risen 11.1%. Revenue gained 11.3%, to $3.4 billion from $3.0 billion.

Between 2014 and 2016, the company expects to spend $5.5 billion on upgrades to its power lines and pipelines in Alberta. These improvements will help it take advantage of rising electricity demand from oil sands projects.

The company will probably earn $2.37 a share in 2014, and the stock trades at 17.3 times that estimate. The $1.07 dividend yields 2.6%.

The class A non-voting shares are more liquid than the class B voting shares.

Canadian Utilities class A stock is a buy.

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