A Yield to Caution

Article Excerpt

HYDRO ONE LTD. $21 (Toronto symbol H; Shares outstanding: 595.9 million; Market cap: $12.5 billion; Dividend yield: 4.4%; www.hydroone.com) is an electricity transmission and distribution utility, 47.4% owned by the province of Ontario. Hydro One doesn’t generate electricity. Instead, it owns and operates 96% of Ontario’s electricity-transmission capacity. It then distributes that power to 1.3 million customers through its 30,000 kilometres of power lines. The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.23 a share for a high 4.4% yield. Despite its stability as a regulated utility and its high yield, Hydro One faces a number of risks. They include its high-cost unionized workforce and the possibility of further political interference by its major shareholder, the Ontario government. Recently, Hydro One’s $6.7 billion for U.S. utility Avista Corp. was rejected by Washington State. Regulators there were worried about future meddling in Avista by the Ontario government. They cited Premier Doug Ford forcing the retirement of Hydro One’s CEO and the resignation of its entire board of directors. Hydro One…