Enbridge Energy Partners (EEP) is being downgraded from an overall DARS rating of 3.5 to 3.4, as its exposure to oil means there is further downside to this stock.
At 3.4, we do not recommend adding further money to this stock. Enbridge navigated the commodity downturn very well by not cutting its dividend. Their most recent distribution of $0.58 was actually 5% higher than what it was compared to the same distribution last quarter. Having kept that in mind, the stock stayed on the list—but since the price keeps falling, its relative strength is being downgraded from 3.5 to 3
We tried to hedge investors’ portfolios from falling commodity prices last month by recommending a water utilities stock, since recommending the stock is up 7%. We want to further this “defensive buying” theme by recommending another stock that pretty much has a monopoly in what it does. This stock was up 5% in the 2008 recession and is up 3% for 2016 in a falling market.
