TC Energy expands in Mexico

Article Excerpt

TC ENERGY CORP. $64 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol TRP; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 1.01 billion; Market cap: $64.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.5; Dividend yield: 5.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.tcenergy.com) recently formed an alliance with Mexico’s state-owned power company (CFE) to jointly build and operate a new, 715-kilometre natural gas pipeline (called the Southeast Gateway Pipeline) that will connect the ports of Tuxpan and Coatzacoalcos. It should begin operating in 2025. TC will also fold its two existing gas pipelines in Mexico into this new partnership. All three lines will then operate under a single, U.S.-dollar denominated, take-or-pay shipping agreement that expires in 2055. To help cover its share of the new line’s $4.5 billion U.S. cost, TC sold 28.4 million common shares for gross proceeds of $1.8 billion (Canadian). The new shares increased the total outstanding by about 3%. However, the deal should expand TC’s gross earnings by 6% annually between 2021 and 2026, up from its…