Buy CU for income, ATCO for value

Article Excerpt

Canadian Utilities’ high-quality assets provide it with plenty of cash flow for shareholder dividends. That cash flow also helps explain why we have recommended the stock as a top pick for income seekers since 1995. We also like its parent company, ATCO. Investing in that firm lets you buy the same businesses as Canadian Utilities, but at a discount. ATCO has also simplified its operations in the past few years. That should help shrink its holding company discount and push up its share price. CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD. (Toronto symbols CU [class A non-voting] $36 and CU.X [class B voting] $36; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares o/s: 273.1 million; Market cap: $9.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; Dividend yield: 4.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.canadianutilities.com) distributes electricity and natural gas in Alberta and Australia. It also holds all or part of 21 power plants—17 in Canada, 2 in Australia and 2 in Mexico. ATCO (see right) owns 52.2% of the company. Canadian Utilities will…