Roger S. Conrad

Fewer than one in five stocks in our Utility Report Card trades below our value-based buy targets. Investors should stay disciplined and take their opportunities when they come.

After a dividend cut, this international telecom titan continues to make progress on its turnaround effort and remains an appealing value play.

This telecom giant has the financial strength to weather an intensifying price war while continuing to invest in opportunities that pave the way for longer-term growth.

Three companies escape from the Endangered Dividends List, while a troubled international telecom announces what could be the first of several dividend cuts.

Utility stocks have continued to rally, propelling a record 20 of our Portfolio holdings above our value-based buy targets--a high-quality problem. We also highlight the solid fourth-quarter results posted by a handful of our aggressive picks.

We have Sold two positions in the Aggressive Income Portfolio.

ARPA-E's Energy Innovation Summit, which takes place next week, could give us early insights into President Trump's energy policies.

The outlook for interest rates and uncertainties surrounding the Trump administration’s policies likely top most investors’ list of concerns in early 2017. However, investors shouldn’t take their eye off their portfolio holdings’ underlying businesses and future growth prospects. Despite the conventional wisdom that rising interest rates are bad news for utility stocks, the Dow Jones Utility Average has gained more than 20 percent since the Federal Reserve began increasing the benchmark rate in December 2015. These returns reflect the upward drift in the broader market and delivering on guidance for earnings and dividend growth. Strong fourth-quarter results and company-specific developments—not the latest tweet from President Donald Trump—are behind NextEra Energy Partners LP’s (NYSE: NEP) strong returns in the new year. Meanwhile, the recent selloff in Dominion Resources’ (NYSE: D) stock reflects a combination of high expectations and an unexpected revision to the company’s 2017 guidance, not the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy. Nowhere in our coverage universe are hopes higher and easier to dash than in names that traders have bid up as potential takeover targets.

Access to inexpensive capital and the pursuit of scale continue to drive consolidation in the utility and telecommunication services sectors. These trends create opportunities for savvy investors.

Although interest rates and federal policies can affect the stock market and create challenges and opportunities, how companies have positioned themselves and how management teams react to changes ultimately shape investors’ returns.