Updating our Income Portfolio Stocks Canadian Utilities Ltd., Pengrowth Energy Trust and Fortis Inc.

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD. $38 will pay a special dividend of $0.25 a share in September 2006. It has also increased its regular quarterly dividend 1.8%, from $0.285 a share to $0.29. The new annual rate of $1.16 yields 3.1%. Buy. PENGROWTH ENERGY TRUST $24 earned $0.41 a unit in the first quarter of 2006, up 10.8% from $0.37 a year earlier, while cash flow per unit rose 7.3%, to $0.88 from $0.82. Although oil prices rose 22%, Pengrowth’s total production remained unchanged, as acquisitions of new properties offset maintenance slowdowns and asset sales. Excluding acquisitions, Pengrowth’s average daily production in 2006 should grow to around 56,500 barrels per day, up 3% from its earlier forecast. Buy. FORTIS INC. $21 earned $0.35 a share (total $36.6 million) in its first quarter, down 12.5% from $0.40 a share ($39.2 million) a year earlier. If you disregard a one-time gain of $7.9 million in the year-earlier quarter, Fortis’s earnings would have grown 17%, thanks to…