• Twitter
Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
  • Roger S. Conrad

Roger S. Conrad needs no introduction to individual and professional investors, many of whom have profited from his decades of experience uncovering the best dividend-paying stocks for accumulating sustainable wealth.

Roger built his reputation with Utility Forecaster, a publication he founded more than 20 years ago that The Hulbert Financial Digest routinely ranked as one of the best investment newsletters. He’s also a sought-after expert on master limited partnerships (MLP) and former Canadian royalty trusts.

In April 2013, Roger reunited with his long-time friend and colleague, Elliott Gue, becoming co-editor of Energy & Income Advisor, a semimonthly online newsletter that’s dedicated to uncovering the most profitable opportunities in the energy sector.

Although the masthead may have changed, readers can count on Roger to deliver the same high-quality analysis and rational assessment of the best dividend-paying utilities, MLPs and dividend-paying Canadian energy names.

Articles

No Cuts this Time, but Two Companies Join the List

By Roger S. Conrad on Dec. 9, 2019

It’s survival of the fittest in the communications sector. And as rising competition, surging capital spending and tough regulation shrink free cash flow, the wave of dividend cuts is hitting all but the largest and strongest players.

Betting Wisely on Electricity’s Future

By Roger S. Conrad on Dec. 9, 2019

Cheap to mine, easy to burn and abundant almost everywhere: It’s easy to see why coal became the primary fuel for a century plus of global electrification. In fact, up until very recently, demand growth was actually accelerating. 

A Stock Picker’s Market for Value

By Roger S. Conrad on Dec. 9, 2019

Now more than ever, it’s a stock picker’s market for utilities and essential services.

Last month, the Dow Jones Utility Average basically ran in place. But top-performer AES Corp (NYSE: AES) returned 10 percent, while the biggest loser Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE: PEG) shed 5 percent.

The difference maker was investor expectations. AES beat a relatively low bar with third quarter earnings and updated guidance. Public Service failed a somewhat higher one, despite another solid performance at its core New Jersey utility.

AES is also a leading global adopter of renewable energy technology, including battery storage. And its 90 percent two-year total return—70 points better than the DJUA—was in large part simply closing the gap with sector leaders like NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE).

11/21/19 Conrad’s Utility Investor Live Chat

By Roger S. Conrad on Nov. 15, 2019

Roger Conrad will host an online chat for Conrad's Utility Investor subscribers on Nov. 21, 2019 at 2 PM Eastern time.

Utility Earnings and the Burden of High Expectations

By Roger S. Conrad on Nov. 11, 2019

It was another strong quarter for the nearly 200 essential service companies in our Utility Report Card coverage universe. Of the 95 percent or so reporting so far, only a handful of small telecoms failed to demonstrate underlying business strength.

My number one rule in any environment is to avoid stocks and bonds of companies with weakening underlying businesses. If things are going poorly now, how bad will they get when the economy really slows and/or the cost of capital rises?

Aggressive Hoding Suburban Propane Partners (NYSE: SPH) has yet to report its fiscal fourth quarter. But each of the 38 other CUI Portfolio recommendations reported numbers that either met or beat management’s previous guidance.

Atlantica Yield Plc: Building Growth and Sharing it

By Roger S. Conrad on Nov. 11, 2019

Roughly four years ago, Atlantica Yield’s (NSDQ: AY) largest shareholder Abengoa SA (Spain: ABG) filed bankruptcy. The move restricted cash flows from facilities the pair held in common. And as a result, the yieldco was forced to suspend dividends until September 2016, when it resumed at a quarterly rate that was barely one-third the former payout.

Big Midstream for Growth and Income

By Roger S. Conrad on Nov. 11, 2019

Sustainability worries about North American shale oil and gas production, governance concerns and an ugly half-decade of dividend cuts convinced many investors to flee the midstream energy sector and never look back.

Earnings Point to Opportunity

By Roger S. Conrad on Nov. 11, 2019

US/China trade deal optimism has gained steam this month. That’s pushed up the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond to its highest level since late July. And the result has been a mini-sector rotation out of many dividend-paying stocks.

MODEL PORTFOLIOS & RATINGS

ABOUT ROGER CONRAD

Roger S. Conrad needs no introduction to individual and professional investors, many of whom have profited from his decades of experience uncovering the best dividend-paying stocks for accumulating sustainable wealth. Roger b