Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, October 4, 2019

Article Excerpt

EMERA INC., $58.28, Toronto symbol EMA, owns 100% of Nova Scotia Power, that province’s main electricity supplier. It also holds interests in several power plants and natural gas pipelines in the U.S. and the Caribbean. The company will now raise its quarterly dividend by 4.3%. Starting with the November 2019 payment, investors will receive $0.6125 a share instead of $0.5875. The new annual rate of $2.45 yields a high 4.2%. To spur its future growth, the company now plans to spend $6.5 billion on new projects and upgrades between 2019 and 2021. That plan is equal to 47% of its $13.9 billion market cap (the total value of all outstanding shares). However, Emera expects to raise $2.1 billion by selling less-important operations. The additional cash flow from those investments should help Emera with its plan to raise its annual dividend rate between 4% and 5% each year through 2022. Emera will probably earn $2.82 a share in 2019. The stock trades at a still-reasonable…