Savvy acquisitions continue to spur dividends

Article Excerpt

ALGONQUIN POWER & UTILITIES CORP. $13 (Toronto symbol AQN; High-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 472.1 million; Market cap: $6.1 billion; Dividend yield: 5.1%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.algonquinpower.com) operates through two main businesses: The Generation Group produces and sells electricity from 35 clean energy facilities across North America; and the Distribution Group provides regulated electricity, natural gas, water distribution and wastewater collection services. The company will increase its quarterly dividend by 10.0% with the July 2018 payment. Investors will then receive $0.1282 U.S. a share instead of $0.1165 U.S. The new annual rate of $0.5128 U.S. yields a high 5.1%. Big acquisition more than doubled annual revenue Algonquin’s revenue jumped 192.9%, from $675.3 million in 2013 to $2.0 billion in 2017. That’s mainly due to acquisitions, including the January 2017 purchase of Missouri-based Empire District Electric for $3.4 billion. The firm serves over 218,000 customers through eight power plants. If you disregard unusual items, the company’s earnings soared 390.9%, from $59.5 million in…