U.S. operations boost these Canadian utilities

Article Excerpt

EMERA INC. $52 (Toronto symbol EMA; Income-Growth Payer Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 235.8 million; Market cap: $12.3 billion; Dividend yield: 4.5%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.emera.com) owns 100% of Nova Scotia Power, that province’s main electricity supplier. It also owns and invests in power plants and gas pipelines in the U.S. and the Caribbean. Those include the company’s July 2016 purchase of Teco Energy for $13.9 billion. That firm supplies electricity and natural gas to customers in Tampa Bay, Florida, and New Mexico. Starting with the November 2018 payment, Emera raised its quarterly dividend by 4.0%, to $0.5875 a share from $0.565. The new annual rate of $2.35 yields a high 4.5%. In the quarter ended March 31, 2019, Emera’s revenues rose 0.6%, to $1.82 billion from $1.81 billion a year earlier. Higher revenues at Nova Scotia Power and its New Mexico operations offset lower revenues in Florida. If you exclude unusual items, earnings in the quarter increased 10.9%, to $224.0 million from $202.0 million…