Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp (AQN.TO)

2017 is probably going to be a pretty decent year for this company. It is a combination of an unregulated power developer as well as owner of a lot of regulated utilities, especially in the US. They’ve done very well with a strategy of acquiring smaller orphaned utilities, managing them better, and passing on some of the tax synergies, being a Canadian holding company. At some point, when it gets big enough, there will be less accretion continuing, but for 2017-2018 they have more than enough runway for growth. Have been growing dividends very rapidly.

Thinks the 5% dividend is safe. You have to look past the dividend and at the fundamentals of the business. Their business is 50% generation and 50% distribution. On the generation side, they continue to reinvest. On the distribution side, they continue to grow their customer base.

What makes this a little exciting is the renewable energy, and they’ve grown their capital quite a bit. In 2010 they only had $1.2 billion invested capital, and now have $6.1 billion. Quite a bit of growth in a short period of time. They’ve done some acquisitions, and at the same time their revenue and cash flow has grown. Valuation still looks cheap. Dividend yield of 4.9%. (Analysts’ price target is $14.25.)

(A Top Pick Jan 13/16. Up 19%.) He still likes this and has been looking at possibly adding to his holdings. Good dividend grower.

Payout ratio is 50%. A “sleep at night” stock meaning it has a low beta, volatility is half of the market over the last 5 years. Year-over-year sales was up 9% in November and earnings were down 31% and down 21% in the coming quarter, but are expected to grow from $.42 to $.65, a 54% lift, against an 18 PE giving you a .33 PE to growth. A PE to growth that is less than 1%X is typically viewed as attractive. Ranks in the top 25% of his database. Enterprise value to EBITDA is 13X, which is pretty reasonable. Thinks there is a pretty secure future. Dividend yield of 5.2%. (See Top Picks.)

Revenues have skyrocketed, but at the same time so has their debt, a danger signal. They pay a very healthy dividend and have a lot of good assets. Lately, utilities have done pretty darn well, but they come into favour and out of favour. If he owned this, he might consider selling it. He would look very carefully at the debt load and ask himself “what if”, and that would be somewhat worrisome. Dividend yield of 5.2%.

It has been a safe utility name that just made an acquisition in the US. It is following the footsteps of TRP-T and others that made acquisitions in the US. There was a bit of a tax ARP. He prefers NPI-T because of its better near term momentum.

(A Top Pick Jan 11/16. Up 7.46%.) Sold a few months after he had picked it, and then bought it back later in the year. He likes its diversity between Canada and the US with the distribution and generation business. You are buying this for yield, not share price appreciation.

If interest rates go up, this is the company that gets hit in this sector. He did not get excited about the price coming off a bit when interest rates went up. It is a great company and now his nervousness is more on the strength of the US$. He would buy if it was not for the macro factors. 5.5% yield.

A renewable power company, and like a lot of Canadian companies, they made an acquisition in the US. There are a few more opportunities in the US. Bigger is generally better in utilities. They just raised their dividend by 10%. This is one of his favourite renewable plays. Their dividend track record in growth has been very impressive. A very, very solid name.

(A Top Pick Jan 21/16. Up 9.72%.) Chose this for solid growth. He believed that yield proxies had more life in them and that interest rates would stay low for some time. He still sees this growing really well, 16% over the next couple of years. He sees dividend growth. The whole group might be a little expensive when there are more exciting alternatives.

Primarily renewable power, and she likes that space. A well-managed company. Quite attractive to some of the other utility stocks out there. 5.1% dividend yield.

He likes this quite a bit. Interest rates look like they are going to go up, but you are getting a higher yield here. He thinks the stock is undervalued. Dividend yield of 4.8%.

They’ve done a great job. Just did an acquisition in the US. They are going to increase their dividend 8%-10% per year over the next couple of years. This could come off further with interest rates. He will probably be looking to increase his holdings in utilities over the next 12-18 months.

An independent power producer. Just made some acquisitions of wind farms. This was hurt at around the Trump election when there was talk of rebuilding coal. A very good stock paying a healthy dividend of 5.1%, which he doesn’t think is at risk. A utility like company which will give you utility like returns.