Strong quarter spurs another dividend hike

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD. (Toronto symbols CU [class A non-voting] $57 and CU.X [class B voting] $57; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 125.9 million; Market cap: $7.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.6; Dividend yield: 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.canadian-utilities.com) earned $166 million in the three months ended March 31, 2011. That’s up 7.8% from $154 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 6.6%, to $1.30 from $1.22, on more shares outstanding. Revenue rose 6.6%, to $809 million from $759 million. Higher selling prices for electricity offset lower prices for natural-gas storage. The strong results prompted the company to raise its quarterly dividend by 6.6%, to $0.4025 a share from $0.3775. The new annual rate of $1.61 yields 2.8%. This was the 39th consecutive year that Canadian Utilities raised its dividend. Canadian Utilities is a buy. The more liquid class “A” non-voting shares are the better choice. choice…