Expect dividend increases from these four

Article Excerpt

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; Shares outstanding: 272.1 million; Market cap: $8.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 5.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.canadianutilities.com) distributes electricity and natural gas in Alberta and Australia. It also holds all or part of 19 power plants—15 in Canada, 2 in Australia. and 2 in Mexico. ATCO (see right) owns 52.3% of the company. In December 2017, Canadian Utilities transferred its 24.5% stake in ATCO Structures & Logistics to ATCO. As a result, the parent company now owns 100% of the structures and logistics business, which makes temporary buildings for construction, mining and energy-exploration firms. Canadian Utilities received $140 million for its stake. If you exclude that sale and other unusual items, the company’s earnings in the…