Updating Canadian Utilities Ltd., ATCO Ltd., Enbridge Inc.

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD. $37 (www.canadianutilities.com) distributes electricity and natural gas in Alberta and Australia. The company has raised its quarterly dividend by 10.0%, to $0.3575 a share from $0.325. The new annual rate of $1.43 yields 3.9%. Buy. ATCO LTD. $47 (www.atco.com) gets most of its earnings from its 52.9% stake in Canadian Utilities (see above). It also owns 75.5% of ATCO Structures & Logistics, which makes temporary buildings for construction, mining and energy-exploration firms. Canadian Utilities owns the other 24.5%. ATCO has increased its quarterly dividend by 14.9%, to $0.3275 a share from $0.285. The annual rate of $1.31 yields 2.8%. Buy. ENBRIDGE INC. $56 (www.enbridge.com) controls about half of Midcoast Energy Partners L.P. (New York symbol MEP), which owns natural gas pipelines in Texas and Oklahoma. Enbridge will now take full control of Midcoast for $170 million U.S. To put that price in context, the company’s cash flow was $852 million (Canadian), or $0.92 a share, in the third quarter…