Dividend.com has added a top regional utility to the Best Dividend Stocks List and removed a leading consumer products company from the list.
Investors are facing a serious conundrum these days. With the economy starting to slow and stocks being overpriced after years of gains, finding the perfect blend of growth and value has become a difficult task. Investors want safety, but they can’t go too conservative and lose out on the potential returns of a still growing economy.
But, luckily for our new Best Dividend Stocks List pick in the utility sector, it offers the best of both worlds.
Our pick is the largest utility in its region, covering a rich and growing manufacturing environment. With its strong population growth, steady economy and newfound tech muscle, our pick continues to see a stable operating setting. This has helped to power the firm’s dividends for decades, including includes its 6.5% jump last month.
However, our pick isn’t just a “boring” power producer; there’s plenty of exciting growth to be found as well. And that’s because our pick is a green machine. The utility is one of the largest users of hydroelectric power in the nation. Meanwhile, it recently underwent some serious grid modernization upgrades. Machine learning, smart-grid technology and A.I. are quickly becoming part of its core operations. At the same time, the firm has folded solar and other renewables into its mix. This will all benefit shareholders far into the future both with higher revenues and dividend growth.
In the end, our pick has the perfect blend of safety and growth to work in the current environment.
To summarize, here are five reasons why you should own this stock:
1. Operates a monopoly in a fast-growing region of the country full of manufacturing and tech firms.
2. Paid a dividend every quarter since 1943 and continues to increase that payout – the last jump was 6.53% in November.
3. A big winner from the shift toward renewables and the smart grid with new investments in modernization.
4. Predictable rate hikes allow for predictable EPS growth and in turn, dividend growth.
5. Healthy payout ratio of 60% and yield of 2.54%.
