Roger S. Conrad

There's nothing refreshing about a dividend that's on the rocks.

Three of our Portfolio holdings presented at the NAPTP's recent investor conference; we review what their management teams had to say. We also  delve into the latest developments in the renewable-energy space.

We attended the National Association of Publicly Traded Partnerships' MLP Investor Conference and lived to tell the tale. Here are some of our key takeaways from the most important event of the year for MLP investors

Plains All-American Pipeline LP's oil spill in California couldn't have happened in a worse location, but it doesn't diminish the partnership's growth prospects.

First-quarter earnings season has come to an end for our Portfolio holdings. Here's our take on the final three to report.

Roger Conrad will host an exclusive Live Chat for Conrad's Utility Investor subscribers on June 9, 2015, at 2:00 p.m. ET.

The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil has rebounded roughly 40 percent from its mid-March low. Meanwhile, natural gas fetches about half what it did a year ago. And natural-gas prices are even lower in Pennsylvania, where surging production from the Marcellus Shale has overwhelmed local demand and existing takeaway capacity. Depressed natural-gas prices weigh heavily on the spot price of wholesale electricity, putting pressure on power companies that don’t sell their output under long-term agreements or face impending contract expirations. Smaller telecom providers have also suffered margin compression in an increasingly saturated and competitive market. Throw in economic troubles in Brazil and other international markets, and you’ve got a lot of headwinds facing the more than 200 essential-services companies covered in our Utility Report Card. Nevertheless, of the 193 companies that have reported results thus far, only four disappointed to such an extent that management trimmed their full-year guidance for revenue or earnings. Of course, these ranks will grow over the course of the year, as management teams rethink their projections. Businesses with the most exposure to commodity prices face the most risk. Still, the resilience demonstrated by the companies in our coverage universe represents a big part of the appeal of investing in essential-services companies. And after more than a decade of reducing debt and de-risking operations, the utility sector finds itself in its best shape ever.

Each quarterly earnings season bring a deluge of data and insight. Here are some of our bigger-picture takeaways from the 193 companies in our Utility Report Card that have reported first-quarter results.

This company continues to weather challenging conditions in the wholesale power market and remains an appealing turnaround story for aggressive investors.

This complicated master limited partnership offers investors a winning combination of yield, growth and stability.