Feature Article

May set records for S&P 500 dividend cuts, with 18 companies suspending and 5 others reducing. They were joined by 3 non-US essential services providers from our Utility Report Card coverage universe.

AusNet Services (ASX: AST, OTC: SAUNF) raised its semi-annual dividend for payment in June by 4.9 percent. But the Australian electricity distribution utility also issued guidance for a payout cut of -7 to -12 percent for the next 12 months.

Last August, I harvested a basket of high yielding stocks from what I called “stony ground.” My point was falling interest rates had become a double-edged sword for income investors. On the one hand, returns for dividend paying stocks and fixed income securities were rising. And companies’ generation-low borrowing costs were firing up earnings as well.

Communications traffic is surging while the global economy shrinks. By and large, sector companies didn’t convert that to higher profits or even revenues in Q1. But the emerging trend is faster adoption of 5G, with a resulting earnings liftoff for industry leaders the next few years.

The customer is always right regardless of what business you’re in. And for regulated energy utilities like Dominion Energy (NYSE: D) now, that means using more wind and solar to generate electricity.

Most CUI Portfolio stocks have run in place since the April issue. But the past month has been far from uneventful, with 34 of 38 recommended companies reporting their first results and guidance updates since COVID-19 fallout hit the scene.

Five Endangered Dividends List companies cut dividends last month. For Covanta Holding (NYSE: CVA), NuStar Energy (NYSE: NS) and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS/A), the decision was all about COVID-19 fallout.

The Dow Jones Utility Average is nearly 30 percent higher than where it closed March 23. But since mid-April, utilities and essential services stocks have essentially run in place. In fact, most have given back a fair portion of their recovery, as increasingly excited investors have gravitated to traditional “growth” sectors.

Falling oil prices and economic weakness have historically been bad news for wind and solar power. But this time around, they’re shaping up bullish for global electricity producer Enel SpA (Italy: ENEL, OTC: ENLAY).

It’s one thing to grow when your industry is booming. It’s another entirely when almost every company is crawling into its shell, if management still has one—but that’s exactly what TC Energy (TSX: TRP, NYSE: TRP) is doing with sub-$5 oil prices in some regions it serves.

Since the March issue, I’ve sent Conrad’s Utility Investors readers three action Alerts. Throw in the three Income Insights and two Utility Roundups and that’s quite a bit of extra homework.