Dividend.com has added a regional utility company to the Best Dividend Stocks List and removed a consumer food & beverage firm from the list. Once part of the largest financial scandals in all of history, our regional utility pick has spent the last ten years since its IPO dominating the marketplace, removing the ghosts of its past and becoming a dividend stalwart.
Part of that domination is thanks to its monopoly in its core-operating area. As the top utility in one of the fastest-growing and most prosperous sections in the United States, our chosen utility has continued to see rising cash flows and earnings as demand increases exponentially. And with this region in the country only seeing increased high-tech business and population growth, our chosen pick should have no problem powering its future.
And speaking of its future, our pick is forward thinking in another way – namely alternative energy. Thanks to its high-margined portfolio of renewable energy assets, our regional utility pick has been able to juice its earnings and dividend payments even further.
To summarize, here are five reasons why you should own this stock:
- Has increased its dividend by over 51% since its IPO in 2006.
- Has residential, commercial and industrial customers in 51 cities and seven counties.
- Extensive portfolio of solar, wind and hydroelectric assets.
- Operates in a friendly regulatory environment with the last increase of 5.6% to consumer electricity prices for 2018.
- Low utility sector payout ratio of 60% and a healthy yield of 3.00%.
Soft Removal of a Consumer Products Firm From the Best Dividend Stocks List
We added this consumer stock to the Best Dividend Stocks List back in mid-2016. However, to make room for our top regional utility stock, we are performing a soft removal of it from the list. The consumer products firm’s name still features strong metrics in our DARS model, and in fact, scores very high across all measures. However, in recent quarters, the firm’s payout ratio has begun to creep up and is now too high for our model. As a result, its overall DARS score has fallen from 3.9 to 3.8. With that, the consumer firm has been removed from the Best Dividend Stocks List but remains an excellent pick for income seekers.
One of our Best Dividend Stocks has paid more than 290 consecutive payouts. Find out the name of the stock and why it’s worth your money here.
