These picks are working to boost your income

Article Excerpt

Canadian Utilities recently completed a strategic review of its power operations to find ways to increase investor value. As a result, it has now raised $835 million through the sale of 12 fossil fuel-fired plants in Canada, plus other non-core assets. The company will spend some of the cash on new projects to spur dividends for both its own investors well as shareholders of its parent company, ATCO. We like both stocks, but CU’s higher dividend and yield make it a better buy for income seekers. CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD. is one of our long-time favourites. The company (Toronto symbols CU [class A non-voting] $39 and CU.X [class B voting] $39; Income-Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 272.1 million; Market cap: $10.6 billion; Dividend yield: 4.3%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.canadianutilities.com) distributes electricity and natural gas in Alberta and Australia. It also has 5 power plants—1 in Canada, 2 in Australia and 2 in Mexico. ATCO (see right) owns 52.2% of the company. Starting with the March 2019 payment, Canadian Utilities raised its quarterly…