East coast utility broadens its horizons

Article Excerpt

EMERA INC. $33 (Toronto symbol EMA; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 123.5 million; Market cap: $4.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 4.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.emera.com) gets 75% of its revenue and 65% of its earnings from Nova Scotia Power Inc., which is that province’s main electricity supplier. Emera also continues to expand outside Nova Scotia. The company owns the Brunswick Pipeline, which pumps natural gas from the U.S. to a liquefied natural gas plant in Saint John, New Brunswick. It has also acquired electrical utilities in the U.S. and the Caribbean. Revenue and earnings have soared Thanks to these investments, Emera’s revenue jumped 54.1%, from $1.3 billion in 2007 to $2.1 billion in 2011. Earnings shot up 70.5%, from $141.9 million in 2007 to $241.9 million in 2011. Emera sold shares to help pay for its acquisitions. Because of more shares outstanding, earnings per share rose at a slower pace of 56.3%, from $1.28 in 2007 to $2.00 in 2011. The…