U.S. focus will pay off

Article Excerpt

EMERA INC. $49 (Toronto symbol EMA; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 198.7 million; Market cap: $9.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.6; Dividend yield: 4.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.emera .com) owns 100% of Nova Scotia Power, that province’s main electricity supplier. It also owns power utilities in the U.S. and the Caribbean. The company recently completed its purchase of Teco Energy for $13.9 billion. This firm supplies electricity and natural gas to customers in Tampa Bay, Florida. It also distributes gas in New Mexico. Excluding any costs related to the Teco purchase, Emera earned $285 million, or $1.90 a share, in the three months ended June 30, 2016. A year earlier, it earned $42 million, or $0.29. Revenue fell 1.8%, to $1.34 billion from $1.36 billion. With this acquisition, the company now gets 71% of its earnings from the U.S., followed by Canada (25%) and the Caribbean (4%). As well, regulated operations now supply 84% of Emera’s earnings, up from 72%…