Fortis Inc. (FTS.TO)

They have a big deal to buy an Arizona public utility. This is a good deal and provides a little bit of growth. He would actually prefer Bell Canada (BCE-T) over this. This is in the low growth area and will definitely be affected by higher interest rates. He would prefer a pipeline to either of these.

Has grown its dividend at about 4% a year for the last 5 years. Dividend yield of 3.74%. Made a $4.2 billion US acquisition in Arizona. When they make acquisitions, it takes a long time for the deals to close. This one took a year. Their model is that as soon as they announce an acquisition, they raise the equity for it. Spent about $900 million on an expansion on a dam in BC, so there will be a double-digit jump in earnings in 2015. Also, expects their dividends in the next couple of years to grow at a faster rate.

Just doubled their preferred share issue from 300 million to 600 million in order to acquire a US utility. This is been a very reliable dividend grower over the last 2 decades and he thinks this will continue. They do very smart deals in buying utilities in the US in order to grow their earnings. The increase in the size of the offering reflects their popularity. For income oriented investors it is hard to find names as consistent.

(A Top Pick Sept 18/13. Up 12.23%.) He expects it will come back to the $32.75 range and test a breakout. Really good dividend and an excellent balance sheet. 90% of its business is regulated. He has a $40 target on this one.

They completed the acquisition of UTS in the US ahead of schedule. This is a real company changing acquisition. Has increased the size of the company. Feels that people are not really seeing how substantial this is going to be over the next couple of years. Expects earnings to go through the $2 level for the next few years. Dividend yield of 3.86%.

He has no problems whatsoever with this one. 3.8% dividend yield. This is for a buy-and-hold investor who is looking for safety.

The UNS transaction is proceeding well and will be modestly accretive to them. This is only a $7 billion company and they have about $8 billion of utility type investments coming online over the next few years. There is a lot of growth here. Also, have potential for a lot of LNG related investments, with their strategic presence in BC.

Very well-run utility and is well-positioned. Their earnings are growing, and they seem to be on the right track. Has a nice yield. Their recent deal in the US is very much a transformational deal for them. It almost doubles their size, and opens up a whole new market to them.

A Western based regulated utility, and the largest in Canada. Thinks the valuation of 16X is a little high. If we are going into a rising interest rate environment, a fully regulated utility will likely have more capital pressure on its stock price than more of a merchant power business.

It made a good bottom. It will go much higher. There is not much resistance. 90% of the business is regulated.

A conservative investment, but the kind of thing that can give you a regular dividend. Has been showing consistent longer-term growth as well. Chart shows it has established an upward trend including a nice breakout recently. Technicals look very good.

Utilities have done OK, but we certainly haven’t got the kind of bounce out of them that he got out of other parts of the market. Bought an energy company out of Arizona, so it shows that it is a company that is able to grow. Got hit with the “taper tantrum” last year, but it is coming back and seems to be moving back up on the chart. A good, safe place to put your money. 4% dividend yield.

Would like to see the stock getting above the pivot in 2013 of about $32.50, which he suspects it probably will. As a group, utilities should be okay.

(A Top Pick in June 5/13. Down 7.44%.) Short. This didn’t work out. The market has been very defensive this year. Had thought bond yields were going to go higher. He is continuing to Short the stock.

US acquisition could close in Sept. and is going better than they thought. Sees modest accretion with the deal. It is capable of a lot of growth.