Look to these utilities for dependable income

Article Excerpt

Rising interest rates increase the appeal of bonds, which is generally bad news for utilities which must compete with bonds for the attention of income-seeking investors. At the same time, higher interest rates increase borrowing costs for utilities. That further erodes investors’ interest. However, these three utilities get most of their revenue from rate-regulated operations. That makes its easier to recoup the cost of new projects and upgrades to their existing assets; it also cuts your risk. In addition, each of the three utilities has promised to use its increasing cash flow to reward investors with higher dividends. TC ENERGY CORP. $56 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol TRP; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 1.01 billion; Market cap: $56.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.5; Dividend yield: 6.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.tcenergy.com) operates a 93,700-kilometre pipeline network that pumps natural gas from Alberta to eastern Canada and the U.S. Its other operations include 4,900 kilometres of crude oil pipelines and nine…