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Income Insights

10 Trends for Essential-Service Stocks in 2017

By Roger S. Conrad on Dec. 20, 2016
The December 2015 issue of Conrad's Utility Investor emphasized the importance of diversification to generating differentiated returns in 2016. Despite a few laggards, that article's picks outperformed, generating an average total return of 18.6 percent. This year, we opted to highlight 10 trends that should drive outperformance.

Big Tech and Electric Utilities Go a Courtin’

By Roger S. Conrad on Dec. 1, 2016
What does the utility sector’s budding relationship with big tech mean for investors?

A Preview of the Most Important Conference for Utility Investors

By Roger S. Conrad on Nov. 7, 2016
The Edison Electric Institute's annual financial conference takes place this week. Here's a quick preview of some of the themes we'll dig into at this year's event.

Election 2016: What’s at Stake for Utility Stocks?

By Roger S. Conrad on Oct. 24, 2016
The upcoming gubernatorial elections could have important implications for utilities in these states.

The More Things Change, the More Some Utilities Profit

By Roger S. Conrad on Oct. 14, 2016
Critics who dismiss utilities as dinosaurs doomed for extinction aren’t paying attention to the forward-looking moves made by Edison International and some of its peers.

Forget the Fed: Focus on Fundamentals

By Roger S. Conrad on Sep. 29, 2016
While the market fixates on whether the Federal Reserve will hike rates, too many income-seeking investors ignore the danger lurking in their portfolios.

What’s Next for Utility M&A?

By Roger S. Conrad on Sep. 21, 2016
It's been an active year for mergers and acquisitions in the utility sector. We discuss our key takeaways from a major deal that closed ahead of schedule and highlight some of the main themes that will be in play going forward.

Utility M&A Update

By Roger S. Conrad on Sep. 7, 2016
Consolidation continues apace in the utility sector, as operators seek to take advantage of frothy stock prices to improve their economies of scale and increase their exposure to growing demand for natural gas. We update our takes on the various pending acquisitions involving the more than 200 essential-services stocks that we cover in our Utility Report Card.  

Utilities Sell Equity at the Right Time and for the Right Reasons

By Roger S. Conrad on Aug. 26, 2016
The recent spate of equity issuance is yet another sign of frothy valuations in the utility sector, but these moves set the stage for future growth. Investors should bide their time and wait for a pullback to buy our favorite utility stocks.

AT&T and Verizon Communications Extend Their Reach

By Roger S. Conrad on Aug. 10, 2016
Some analysts have criticized recent acquisitions by AT&T and Verizon Communications as signs of weakness. We take a different view.

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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