Investing Topics: Dividend Stocks

Income-seeking investors shouldn't hesitate to take profits on stocks that run-up beyond their fair value.

Breitburn Energy Partners LP's recently proposed acquisition of QR Energy LP demonstrates that the search for scale is alive and well among upstream MLPs, as private-equity buyers ratchet up the competition for asset acquisitions.

Wisconsin Energy's $8.93 billion acquisition of Itegrys Energy marks the latest mega-deal in the energy patch. We scrutinize the merger and explain why this won't be the last big transaction in the utility sector. 

We examine the complicated world of incentive distribution rights and why the recent restructuring of Enbridge Energy Partners LP's partnership agreement is such a big deal.

Dividend-paying stocks aren’t bond substitutes and never will be. Any investor who has sold these equities because of rising interest rates has lost big over the past 22 years. Those who do so now are playing with the same fire and, inevitably, will be badly burned.

Last week, the Energy & Income Advisor team attended the National Association of Publicly Traded Partnerships’ (NAPTP) annual MLP Investor Conference in Ponte Vedra, Fla. Here are our takeaways.

Exelon Corp’s (NYSE: EXC) $6.9 billion all-cash takeover offer for Pepco Holdings (NYSE: POM) has gotten a mixed reception from investors, but the deal pushes the acquirer closer to resuming dividend growth.

By and large, our favorite utilities and other essential-service providers have announced solid first-quarter results, while the market’s low expectations provides a blessing in disguise.

Rising dividends are the essential fuel for higher stock prices. And nothing is more critical for payout growth than healthy, expanding businesses.