Two ways to profit from the same assets

Article Excerpt

Canadian Utilities and its parent company ATCO hold essentially the same pool of assets. Investors looking for yield should opt for the subsidiary, while value seekers should buy the parent for its holding company discount. CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD. (class A non-voting) is a buy. The company (Toronto symbols CU [class A non-voting] $37 and CU.X [class B voting] $37; Income-Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 269.7 million; Market cap: $10.0 billion; Dividend yield: 5.1%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.canadianutilities.com) distributes electricity and natural gas in Alberta and Australia. It also owns or invests in 7 non-regulated power plants—1 in Canada, 2 in Mexico, 3 in Australia and 1 in Chile. ATCO (see right) owns 52.9% of Canadian Utilities. Canadian Utilities last raised your quarterly dividend by 1.0% in March 2022, to $0.4442 a share from $0.4398. The new annual rate of $1.78 yields a high 4.8%. The company has now increased its dividend rate for 50 consecutive years. Moreover, it has re-instated its dividend re-investment plan. If you…