Topic: Dividend Stocks

Dividend Stocks: Acquisition to help Fortis raise dividend

Fortis Inc

Fortis will issue bonds to help pay for ITC Holdings Corp. That company owns 25,100 kilometres of regulated power lines in the U.S. Midwest—something that should provide steady revenue and help Fortis meet its target for dividend increases.

FORTIS INC. (Toronto symbol FTS; www.fortisinc.com) owns electrical utilities across Canada and in the U.S. and Caribbean. It also distributes natural gas in British Columbia.

In February 2016, Fortis agreed to buy ITC Holdings Corp. (New York symbol ITC), which owns 25,100 kilometres of high-voltage power lines in the U.S. Midwest.

Fortis is paying $6.9 billion U.S. in cash and shares; ITC shareholders will own 27% of the combined company. Fortis will also list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange; its shares will continue to trade in Toronto.


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If you include ITC’s $4.4-billion U.S. debt, the total purchase price is $11.3 billion U.S. Fortis expects to complete the deal by the end of 2016.

Dividend Stocks: U.S. government plans to power demand

To help pay for this purchase, Fortis announced this week that it is selling 19.9% of ITC to Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund for $1.2 billion U.S. It also plans to issue $2 billion U.S. in new bonds.

Buying ITC will also let Fortis profit from the U.S. government’s plan to encourage new wind farms and other renewable-energy projects. That should spur demand for transmission lines, particularly in the U.S. Midwest.

Excluding ITC, Fortis will probably earn $2.16 a share in 2016. The stock trades at a reasonable 18.5 times that estimate. In addition, adding ITC will help Fortis meet the goal of raising its dividend by 6% each year through 2020. The current annual rate of $1.50 a share yields 3.8%.

Recommendation in The Successful Investor: BUY

For our report on how to judge a stock’s dividend yield and p/e ratio, read When it comes to high dividend yield, you usually “get what you pay for”.

For our recent report on another Canadian dividend stock we recommend, read Extendicare Inc. expands operations, cash flow.

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