A new buy for growth and income

Article Excerpt

This month we’re adding AltaGas to our regular TSI Dividend Advisor coverage. This natural gas pipeline operator and processor shifted its focus to the U.S. following a big acquisition in 2018. Since then, it has sold less-important assets to pay down the loans it needed to fund the purchase. AltaGas also gets most of its revenue from rate-regulated businesses, as well as take-or-pay contracts with annual adjustments linked to inflation. That helps cut the company’s risk. Those predictable revenue streams also give it plenty of room to keep raising your dividend. ALTAGAS LTD. $28 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol ALA; High-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio; Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 281.3 million; Market cap: $7.9 billion; Dividend yield: 4.0%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.altagas.ca) processes, transports, stores and markets natural gas for producers. It also operates natural gas utilities and is a power generator, with gas-fired, coal-fired, wind, biomass and hydroelectric plants. Almost all of AltaGas’ assets are now in the U.S. That, in part, reflects its July 2018…