ATCO LTD. – Toronto symbols ACO.X and ACO.Y

ATCO LTD. (Toronto symbols ACO.X [class I non-voting] $58 and ACO.Y [class II voting] $58; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 58.2 million; Market cap: $3.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.atco.com) is a holding company. Its main subsidiary… Read More

Expect dividend increases from these four

Rising interest rates generally reduce the appeal of income stocks, including utilities. However, recent acquisitions by these four industry leaders—and their new projects—set them up for years of higher dividends.
CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD. (Toronto symbols CU [class A non-voting] $31 and CU.X [class B voting] $31; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector;… Read More

We like both the parent and subsidiary

CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD. (Toronto symbols CU [class A non-voting] $31 and CU.X [class B voting] $31; Income-Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 272.1 million; Market cap: $8.4 billion; Dividend yield: 5.1%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.canadianutilities.com) distributes electricity and natural gas in Alberta and Australia. It also holds… Read More

Look beyond their latest quarterly results

All four of these power and gas utilities reported lower earnings for the second quarter of 2018. Moreover, rising interest rates have hurt their appeal among income-seeking investors. Higher rates will also increase their borrowing costs as they raise funds for new projects.
Even so, most… Read More

Two companies feed this high-yielding dividend

Higher interest rates have recently helped to keep this utility’s share price down. That’s largely because this high-yielding stock competes with fixed-income investments for investor interest. 

However, increased economic activity often accompanies higher rates and that usually helps utilities. Plus this company recently acquired full control… Read More