Five utilities with dependable dividends

Article Excerpt

Utility stocks have more appeal than they used to, mainly because low interest rates have made bonds less appealing. (See later in this issue for our full analysis of why utilities are a better choice than bonds for your portfolio.) We see all five of these electrical-power utilities as buys. That’s because they offer an attractive mix of safety, income and growth. As well, they have maintained or raised their dividends, despite the recession and stock-market downturn. CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD. (Toronto symbols CU (class A non-voting) $47 and CU.X (class B voting) $47; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 125.9 million; Market cap: $5.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 3.2%; SI Rating: Above Average) distributes electricity and natural gas in Alberta. It also operates 19 power plants: 15 in Canada, two in the U.K., and two in Australia, As well, Canadian Utilities sells engineering services to other utilities. ATCO Ltd. (see right) owns 52.3% of the company. Canadian Utilities’ 2009 revenue fell…