Northland Power Inc (NPI.TO)

Likes this company. Pays a good dividend of about 6%, and the dividend is sustainable. A little stretched now because they are going through a big CapX program in Europe, offshore wind in the Netherlands and Germany. The projects are going to start to come on in 2016 and then into 2017. What he likes is that you get a current dividend, and as these projects in Europe come on, there will be lots more cash flow coming in and it is likely the dividend will increase over the next couple of years.

It could get significantly rerated if the payout ratio goes below 100%. European wind farms will contribute to income in 2017. You could finally see some dividend growth in this name. The main risk is the power prices they have locked in beyond 10 years. It will be questionable beyond that.

Earnings just came out and were more positive than had been expected. He likes that the company is undergoing a transformation. It was largely a Canadian independent power producer. They are building 2 large offshore wind projects in the North Sea and they got pretty favourable contract terms. Dividend yield of 6.03%.

He likes it. The offshore wind product is progressing very well. A nice dividend, but a 110% payout ratio. 6.3% dividend. You can quietly put money on this one.

He has always liked it. It has a slightly diversified portfolio of assets. You are getting a good entry point into a name that potentially has a double digit earnings growth, better compared to TRP-T, for example. Some of the assets NPI-T bought should start paying them some returns now.

A very good area to put money to work. You’ll have to be a little patient. They’re growing revenue in Europe, so they are expanding the business. Canadian utility space has been very active outside of Canada for growth. This company is in the process of building 2 very large projects in the North Sea, and will be very interesting projects when they come to fruition. However, management is going to have to prove that they can get these projects on time, on budget, to market in 2017.

Renewable power development. They are in the middle of extensive growth projects. Pressure is caused by an off shore wind project. As they continue to de-risk projects the stock should go up. It will perform well over time. 6.6% sustainable dividend. By 2017 you will see the payout ratio under 100% and then you should see dividend increases.

A good income vehicle. It has been one of the better independent power producers historically. Thinks the assets are excellent. The only caution he would throw in is that any yield vehicle, when and if we get higher rates, will suffer. We are a long way away from that and he thinks the runway is pretty clear for the next 6 months minimum, and possibly as long as a year.

The key question for this company is will the decline in oil be long-term. He doesn’t think so. We are seeing a lot of positive things in the oil structures. One of them is the political reality of the Middle East. Because of this, he believes the correction on this company has been overdone. This offers a pretty good entry point right now. 6.3% dividend yield.

A utility company with a lot of new products, where they haven’t got the cash flow yet. Because of this, debt has ramped up in anticipation of future cash flows. You have to give them a year to 18 months to fully realize that cash flow. Not risk-free, but a solid company with good projects and good recurring cash flow. Cash flow will start increasing.

Every portfolio should have a company like this, but he prefers AQN-T because they are better managed. Earnings are better and they did a better job of cutting costs.

They have a lot of money to spend to develop one of their offshore projects in Europe. It is probably going to require them to do some kind of equity raise, either on a preferred or common share basis. The market knows this and it has been anticipating this. They recently made a sale of some of their other properties. This is going to be a heavy tax on the dividend over the next few years, but they indicated they are going to maintain the dividend. A dividend increase would probably be 2-3 years out.

He is surprised at the price reaction. It is an independent renewable power company with renewable contract terms. Dividend is covered. They have a pretty good drip program so the payout is only 80% today. There is a bit of an equity raise coming up. He has a lot of respect for the management team. You should be very happy with the yield.

As far as the general energy is concerned, these stocks tend to be a little bit safer as power producers. You don’t get quite the volatility. This wouldn’t be one of his favourites, as he tends to go with some of the bigger power companies. This is a solid, safe one. If you want some energy exposure, without the volatility of oil and gas, this would be alright.

Toronto Dominion (TD-T) or Northland Power (NPI-T) for dividends? Doesn’t know if he would be adding money to banks at this time. You probably want to buy this one down here. Slightly riskier than the banks, but has come off quite a little bit with concerns about their European operations, which he thinks are going to be just fine.