Feature Article
AT&T: Merging Network with Media
By
Roger S. Conrad on
Jul. 3, 2018
AT&T Inc’s (NYSE: T) court victory over the U.S. Department of Justice last month was as complete as any anti-trust ruling in memory. In fact, Judge Richard Leon actually warned government lawyers not to appeal and face certain failure.
Picking Your Spots in Choppy Times
By
Roger S. Conrad on
Jul. 3, 2018
We’re at the halfway mark for 2018. And so far, it’s been an almost completely flat performance for the CUI model portfolios.
Including dividends, our Conservative Holdings are lower by -2.2 percent. Aggressive Holdings are underwater by -1.5 percent and the Top 10 DRIPs are down by -1.2 percent.
SCANA Cuts, Who’s Next?
By
Roger S. Conrad on
Jul. 3, 2018
SCANA Corp (NYSE: SCG) will cut its quarterly dividend to 12.37 cents a share starting with the July 18 payment. The -79.8 percent reduction is in response to the South Carolina state legislature, which last week passed a bill reducing the 18 percent rate hike to pay for the cancelled Summer nuclear plant to 3.2 percent.
Picks and Pans for Second Half 2018
By
Roger S. Conrad on
Jul. 3, 2018
One tenth of a percentage point: That’s the Dow Jones Utility Average’s first half 2018 return. The almost perfectly flat finish was not without its share of volatile moments.
The upward spike in the benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield, for example, triggered many well-capitalized investment strategies’ sell signals. And the last couple weeks reversed much of the resulting damage, as global trade worries catalyzed a flight into stocks perceived as not directly at risk.
De-Risked Kinder Morgan Is Ripe for Purchase
By
Roger S. Conrad on
Jun. 11, 2018
Successful big pipeline projects move the profit meter in the energy midstream business. But when they go wrong, they can quickly diminish a developer’s growth and financial health.
That was the growing risk to Kinder Morgan Inc (NYSE: KMI) before it sold its Trans Mountain pipeline and expansion project to the Canadian government. Now management has CAD6.4 billion in saved capital expenditures as well as CAD4.5 billion in sales proceeds to invest in a wide range of potential projects. And that’s in addition to $12.7 billion of backlog already in development, targeted to produce $1.7 billion of additional EBITDA by 2021.
This Blue Chip Is Back in Range
By
Roger S. Conrad on
Jun. 11, 2018
Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) is the latest blue chip utility on our long-term target list to slip back to a buying range. This month, we’re adding the stock to the Conservative Holdings.
Sempra’s business strengths are legion. On March 9, the company succeeded where Warren Buffett failed, closing on the former Texas Utilities’ regulated electricity transmission and distribution assets. The deal brought its regulated global utility customer base to over 43 million, including San Diego G&E, Southern California Gas and 6 million users in Chile and Peru.
Strategy: The Art of Buying Low
By
Roger S. Conrad on
Jun. 11, 2018
Everyone wants to buy low and sell high. But in practice many investors do the opposite, particularly with daily stock market trading dominated by exchange traded funds and algorithmic investment strategies.
For us, this means opportunity. Specifically, we’re able to buy high quality essential services companies at the lowest valuations in many months.
Enbridge Eats Its Young
By
Roger S. Conrad on
Jun. 11, 2018
Enbridge Inc (TSX: ENB, NYSE: ENB) is buying the remaining common units of the two US MLPs it controls: Enbridge Energy Partners (NYSE: EEP) and Spectra Energy Partners (NYSE: SEP).
It’s a good deal for the acquirer, which is buying these assets for barely 7 times cash flow. Absorbing the regulated natural gas and oil pipelines should dodge a possible Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-mandated rate cut. And management has affirmed three-year earnings guidance while promising faster growth after 2020.
Utility M&A Heats Up: 3 Ways to Bet
By
Roger S. Conrad on
Jun. 11, 2018
Mergers and acquisitions have been part of the landscape for as long as utilities and essential services have been around. And remarkably, not one deal has failed to create a stronger company.
A Rare 9 Percent Yield With Safety Credentials
By
Roger S. Conrad on
May. 6, 2018
For the first year since 2005, propane distributor Amerigas Partners (NYSE: APU) didn’t raise its quarterly distribution. Rather than a sign of weakness, however, management’s decision secures the already generous 9 percent plus yield and may have set the stage for shares to break out of an 8-years plus trading range.
MODEL PORTFOLIOS & RATINGS
Aggressive Income Portfolio
Roger's favorite utilities for investors seeking superior price appreciation by taking calculated risks.
Conservative Income Portfolio
Harness the tried and true wealth-building power of rising dividends.
Top 10 DRIPs
Nothing compounds wealth like reinvesting a rising stream of dividends.
Endangered Dividends List
Warning: Falling Dividends.
Utility Report Card
Roger's current take and vital statistics on more than 200 essential-services stocks.
Conrad's Utility Investor
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