U.S. expansion pays off for Emera

Article Excerpt

EMERA INC. $50 (Toronto symbol EMA; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 235.9 million; Market cap: $11.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 4.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.emera.com) owns 100% of Nova Scotia Power, that province’s main electricity supplier. It contributes 20% of Emera’s earnings. The remaining 80% of earnings come from the company’s investments in several power plants and gas pipelines in the U.S. and the Caribbean. Those include its July 2016 purchase of TECO Energy for $13.9 billion. That firm supplies electricity and natural gas in Tampa Bay, Florida, and New Mexico. New operations doubled Emera’s revenue The company’s revenue fell 5.1%, from $3.0 billion in 2014 to $2.8 billion in 2015. That’s due to lower revenue from its energy trading operations. In 2016, revenue jumped 53.4% to $4.3 billion as a result of the TECO Energy purchase. In 2017, revenue increased 47.3% to $6.2 billion on the full-year contribution from TECO. Revenue improved 4.8% to $6.5 billion in 2018. Emera’s earnings jumped 48.8%,…