Projects will fuel hikes up to 2026

Article Excerpt

FORTIS INC. $58 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol FTS; Income-Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 474.9 million; Market cap: $27.5 billion; Dividend yield 3.7%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.fortisinc.com) is the main power utility in Newfoundland and PEI. It also owns electrical utilities in other parts of Canada as well as the U.S. and the Caribbean. Also, the utility distributes natural gas in British Columbia, Arizona and New York State. With the December 2021 payment, the company increased your quarterly dividend by 5.9%, to $0.535 a share from of $0.505. The new annual rate of $2.14 yields a solid 3.7%. Fortis now plans to spend $20.0 billion on projects and upgrades to existing operations between 2022 and 2026. Those new assets will let the company increase the annual dividend rate by about 6% each year through 2025. Fortis is a buy. buy…