Roger S. Conrad

At last count, more than half our Portfolio holdings traded above my buy targets. These are all great companies that will continue to build wealth for investors, but now is the time for discipline.

Rarely will you find a sector’s top-quality stocks on sale more than five years into a bull market. But that’s the case with this new Conservative Income Portfolio holding. Record demand has enabled this utility to grow its first-quarter earnings by 19.7 percent year over year.

Thanks to the rapid development of renewable energy and the support of state regulators, this utility has moved to break its addiction to imported oil, setting the stage for higher profits over the long term and lower bills for consumers.

With valuations elevated in the utility sector, investors should pay close attention to the risks and opportunities created by four key themes.

The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed rules on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions create dange and opportunities for investors in utility stocks.

Five more Conrad’s Utility Investor portfolio stocks have hit new 52-week highs since the last Utility Roundup and 17 of the 30 companies in my Aggressive Income and Conservative Income Portfolios have hit 52-week highs this month.

Wisconsin Energy's $8.93 billion acquisition of Itegrys Energy marks the latest mega-deal in the energy patch. We scrutinize the merger and explain why this won't be the last big transaction in the utility sector. 

It’s hard to believe that the conventional wisdom at the start of the year was that utilities were in a death spiral—and that rising interest rates and lost sales to solar would ensure they were among 2014’s worst performers. But a dozen Conrad’s Utility Investor Portfolio stocks have hit new 52-week highs this month. And most of the other holdings are no more than a couple of good trading days from following suit.

We examine the complicated world of incentive distribution rights and why the recent restructuring of Enbridge Energy Partners LP's partnership agreement is such a big deal.

A growing, capital-intensive business must regularly be fed with sales of debt and equity. Investors almost invariably fear such offerings as either dilutive or incurring more debt. But the lowest corporate borrowing rates in a generation have enabled companies to cut interest expenses with new debt offerings, eliminating their near-term exposure to rising rates. This week, we look at six Conrad's Utility Investor Portfolio holdings that have had recent offerings.