Roger S. Conrad

When a stock or sector trades at a meaningfully discounted valuation to market averages, there’s always a reason why. Sometimes there’s an opportunity for investors to cash in from closing that discount, if the reason proves temporary. And sometimes, the valuation gap persists or even widens, if the challenge behind it becomes more acute.

Is it possible to invest effectively in renewable energy without the stocks of world’s two largest producers of wind and solar? Standard & Poor’s apparently wants us to find out.

Despite some setbacks, Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) has adapted to where we are right now in the energy price cycle. But effective participation still requires discipline.

This morning, America’s leading wind and solar power producer NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE) announced outstanding Q3 results. This first major renewable energy producer to report gives solid confirmation that the global energy transition is alive and well, no matter what happens at the ongoing UN Climate Change Conference.

October is the month with the reputation for hosting epic market crashes. But September has historically been the worst for stock returns. And this year’s results matched the trend, as the S&P shed close to 5 percent and the Dow Jones Utility Average more than 6 percent of its value. The silver lining is the vast majority of our Portfolio stocks are once again trading at reasonable entry points for fresh money. And ironically, specific company developments last month were strongly positive. Front and center is Illinois’ new energy law and its potential to accelerate growth for Conservative Focus stock Exelon Corp (NYSE: EXC) and deep value Vistra Energy (NYSE: VST).

Few places have seen more turbulence than Hong Kong the past few years. But equally, few utilities boast anything close to the continuing reliable and robust growth of CLP Holdings (HK: 2, OTC: CLPHY).

It took an 11th hour legislative showdown and threats by the company to shut a pair of nuclear plants. But Illinois has now passed the omnibus energy legislation Exelon Corp (NYSE: EXC) sought for years. And the company has never been better positioned to take advantage.

Worries about rising interest rates and inflation pressures have emerged as material headwinds for dividend paying stocks. As a result, the Dow Jones Utility Average has once again failed to break above long-standing upside resistance at its February 2020 all-time high. That makes it 19 months and counting since the DJUA has reached a new peak. And it’s a stark contrast to the S&P 500, which hit one just last month.

AT&T Inc (NYSE: T) still sells for less than 8.7 times expected 2021 earnings. And PPL Corp (NYSE: PPL) yields 2.5 percentage points more than the Dow Jones Utility Average. Why the deep discounts? Because neither company’s management has come clean on how much they intend to cut dividends after completing major transactions early next year, other than to say they intend to “right size.”