Alberta pays ATCO to phase out coal

Article Excerpt

ATCO LTD. (Toronto symbols ACO.X [class I non-voting] $42 and ACO.Y [class II voting] $42; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 114.7 million; Market cap: $4.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 2.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www. atco.com) through its 53.1%-owned Canadian Utilities subsidiary, must close down its two coal-fired plants (Sheerness and Battle River) in Alberta by 2030. They supply about a third of Canadian Utilities’ power. However, for closing the Sheerness plant, ATCO will receive cash payments from the province of $4.7 million annually from 2017 to 2030. To put these payments in context, ATCO earned $70 million, or $0.61 a share, in the third quarter of 2016. The company will also work with the Alberta government to convert the Battle River plant to natural gas. The class I (X) non-voting shares are more liquid than the class II (Y) voting shares. ATCO class I stock is a buy. buy…