Income Insights

Gas companies strengthened their case during pandemic-wracked 2020 by demonstrating extremely stable economics, paying generous dividends backed by ultra-secure and growing cash flows, and still remaining small enough to have perennial takeover appeal. Those strengths promise to make natural gas distribution a hot commodity again in 2021.

What’s a well-run fiber broadband network worth these days?

From all indications, 2020 has been the worst wildfire season in California’s history. And the state is hardly alone in its misery, as an unprecedented combination of wind gusts and dry conditions have also inflicted record damages throughout the West and Rocky Mountain states.

The top two companies that dominate this essential service industry have combined market capitalization of $440 billion and annual revenue of $300 billion plus, but still trade for an average of just 10 times expected 2020 earnings. They clearly suffer from the burden of low expectations.

Elections always have consequences. They’re just rarely what investors think they will be—and almost never what’s declared beforehand in popular investment media.

Not even rock-solid business resilience to Covid-19 fallout has been enough to swing US electric utilities from laggards to leaders this year. But another wave of mergers and acquisitions just might do the trick.

Everyone loves a bargain. But when a stock trades at a big discount to market or sector averages, there’s always a reason. And to move to a higher price, the company must face its challenges.

Is the world’s economic cup half empty or full? With the fog of the November election campaign season fully descended, politics is affecting how many are answering that question.

The numbers were never going to be pretty for North American energy midstream companies. Management teams warned this spring that Covid-19 fallout was crushing volumes on both the upstream and downstream ends of the business. But with Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) clearly managing these turbulent times, investors can afford to remain patient with this sector.

Chevron Corp (NYSE: CVX) and Sunrun Inc (NSDQ: RUN) are weathering industry challenges far better than most rivals, positioning them on the leading edge of a building wave of energy mergers and acquisitions.