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| DON'T BUY | 33.050 | Barry Schwartz | This is one of the weaker performers of the utilities last year. Trading at about 18X this year's earnings. Do you want to pay 18X earnings when it is going to have 3% earnings growth this year? You are paying up for the dividend and the thinks you can get better valuations elsewhere. | 2012-01-16 | |
| TOP PICK | 33.370 | Lyle Stein | This is a great company to hold for its yield. Put a dividend tax credit on this yield and you are looking at north of 5% bond equivalent. Has a history of growing its dividend. Good stable management and decent balance sheet. | 2011-12-30 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 32.230 | Hap (Robert) Sneddon FCSI | (A Top Pick Nov 19/10. Up 6.29%.) Sold his holdings. | 2011-12-15 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 33.440 | Hap (Robert) Sneddon FCSI | (Top Pick Nov 19/10, Up 10.12%) A year is a long time in these markets. If we get above the $33.80 range then it may continue up. | 2011-11-15 | |
| HOLD | 34.010 | Brooke Thackray | This time of year he favours the cyclical stocks more. Broke its downtrend. The high is probably not a bad place to exit unless it continues to run. | 2011-10-27 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 32.190 | Lyle Stein | (A Top Pick Feb 12/10. Up 24.52%.) | 2011-10-05 | |
| TOP PICK | 32.630 | Michael Sprung | Have a fairly good rate base and seemed to be expanding it more than 5% per year. There will be dividend increases going forward. Have good operations. Good price. | 2011-09-20 | |
| BUY | 32.060 | Barry Schwartz | Fortis (FTS-T) versus Emera (EMA-T) Fortis has a better valuation going forward. Emera has to have 40% of its power output from renewables (?) going forward and he is not sure this is going to be positive for them. Should see dividend increases each year and with the prospect of deflation this is one you should own. | 2011-09-14 | |
| SELL | 32.660 | Ross Healy | Getting nervous about it. Almost got to price book value. It’s still not particularly cheap. Nothing wrong with the company. He sold all his position. | 2011-08-31 | |
| TOP PICK | 31.200 | Douglas Kee | Primarily electric distribution in Newfoundland, BC and Alberta. Increased dividend 31 years in a row. Well managed. Great assets. | 2011-08-29 | |
| Comment | 30.880 | Norman Levine | Canada's growth utility. Near-term it is fully priced. Dividend of about 4% is safe. | 2011-08-26 | |
| TOP PICK | 31.120 | David Baskin | Biggest public Canadian utility - 38 years in a row of dividend rises. Economically non-sensitive stock. | 2011-08-24 | |
| TOP PICK | 31.210 | Barry Schwartz | Raised their dividends 38 years in a row. Earnings won't be great but will grow at 5%-8%. Have a big balance sheet and are on the hunt for an acquisition, which will be positive for their earnings. | 2011-08-11 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 30.870 | Lyle Stein | (Top Pick Feb 12/10, Up 23.03%) | 2011-08-03 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 31.370 | Christine Poole | (A Top Pick July 26/10. Up 12.44%.) Sold this when it had reached her target level. 3.1% yield. | 2011-08-02 | |
| DON'T BUY | 32.500 | Brian Acker, CA | Model price of $24.57, over valued by 22%. Dividend of 3.57%. | 2011-07-08 | |
| DON'T BUY | 32.390 | Barry Schwartz | Just trimmed a portion of his holdings and is considering trimming more. Will have limited growth going forward and is trading at a very high PE multiple. Because it is a 92% regulated utility, with inflation and higher interest rates it will have a tough time outperforming. For dividends, consider going to telcos, Bell (BCE-T) or Rogers (RCI.B-T). | 2011-07-06 | |
| TOP PICK | 32.580 | Jeff Parent B. Eng. FCSI | Dividend and growth play. 3.5-3.6% yield. Use $32 as your exit point. In this low interest rate environment, people are going to be looking for this kind of yield. Has the potential to get back to the $35 level. | 2011-07-04 | |
| WAIT | 31.350 | John O'Connell, CFA | Long term? Just raised $300 million at around $33. The deal sold well, but feels there’s an overhang on that. Yield of about 3.5%. Good growth prospects ahead of it. Will likely have to raise more money for a recent transaction in the North East US, which will be mildly accretive. There are better choices out there. Wait. | 2011-06-15 | |
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| Comment | 31.710 | Charles Lannon | Well-run company and attractive dividend yield. Fairly priced at this time. Decent dividend. Would prefer Trans Canada (TRP-T), which will benefit from all their recent capital spending. | 2011-06-13 | |
| BUY | 32.940 | Andrew Hamlin | Good utility company. Assets in Canada and Caribbean and recently moved into Vermont. 95% of its revenues are contracted on regulated assets. Not a bad company to own and the 3.5% dividend is very safe. | 2011-06-03 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 33.540 | Douglas Kee | (A Top Pick June 2/10. Up 24.61%.) Grow their earnings and dividends 6% to 8% a year each. Good diversification. Their problem currently is what to do with the money. Aggressively looking at the US for electrical and gas distribution companies. | 2011-05-25 | |
| HOLD | 33.180 | Barry Schwartz | Trimmed in the last month or two. 38 years in a row they raised their dividend. Concerned about valuation (17-18x earnings, which is too high) and because 80-90% of operations are regulated, inflation would be a problem. Won't own it much longer. | 2011-05-24 | |
| Comment | 32.660 | Christine Poole | Very high quality company. Slow growing, steady, solid company. Consistently increases its dividends. (She holds some retractable Gs for clients.) | 2011-05-02 | |
| DON'T BUY | 32.100 | Peter Brieger | We have seen the best of a lot of these stocks in capital gains. | 2011-03-14 | |
| WAIT | 34.840 | Jeff Parent B. Eng. FCSI | Loves yield plays likes this. Yield is a bit on the low end. $32 would be a good stop. Been trading in a tight range. If it drops $33.50 reduce position and sell at $32. Could hit $36 on good news. Wait for the news to buy | 2011-02-01 | |
| HOLD | 33.080 | Don Vialoux | Currently in a short term trading range but the technicals are still very positive. If it breaks the trading range, which it is very close to doing, you could see it at around the $38-$39 level. Has very positive seasonality through until the end of December. | 2010-12-10 | |
| TOP PICK | 31.370 | Hap (Robert) Sneddon FCSI | Likes regulated utilities, as they will be allowed to increase revenues in order to match growth with economies. Diversified businesses. About 3.4% yield. | 2010-11-19 | |
| WEAK BUY | 30.920 | Mark Carpani | Bonds: Very solid utility. Power generation assets are highly regulated. Contracts in place for a very long length of time. A little bit rich as present because the extra spread over a government bond is not as good as he used to get. | 2010-11-16 | |
| SELL | 32.700 | Derek Webb, CFA | We are trading in a band and are at the top of the band. As a trader you might want to take profits here because it might come down to the bottom of the band. Long term, we know the fed will keep rates where they are. Yield is 7%, which is big for a stable, low growth company. It will go higher in fits and starts. | 2010-11-04 | |
| PARTIAL SELL | 32.500 | Douglas Kee | Utility. Good dividend grower but stock is getting expensive and valuation is a little high. If you own, consider trimming. Consider buying when it is down 5% or so. | 2010-10-25 | |
| WAIT | 32.300 | Peter Brieger | A first rate company. His worry is the P/E ratio. This one could get hurt if interest rates start to rise. If he were buying, he would wait until it was 10% lower. | 2010-10-12 | |
| WAIT | 31.560 | Barry Schwartz | (Market Call Minute) a little toppy, wait for a pull back. | 2010-10-05 | |
| PARTIAL BUY | 32.360 | Jeff Black | Solid good utility. Has run up like anything that is paying a dividend. Have been increasing dividends with their earnings profile. Fully valued at current price. Would suggest a partial position at this time. | 2010-09-29 | |
| BUY | 30.000 | Douglas Kee | Electrical and gas distribution in Alberta and BC. Very strong management team. Building their rate base at $1.5 billion a year. Can see earnings growth at 6%-8% and they’ll increase dividends 6%-8%.. | 2010-09-09 | |
| TOP PICK | 29.060 | Christine Poole | Is buying for new accounts. Low risk,/ low return (14%). They are good operators and have capital projects in line that will grow cash flow by 5% a year. | 2010-08-23 | |
| TOP PICK | 28.360 | Joey Mack | Preferred series G, 5.25%. Very stable business. On the cusp of being “investment grade”, “non-investment grade”. More of a modest risk security. Has fixed coupons for the next 3 years at 5.25%. Looks cheap right now. | 2010-08-12 | |
| BUY | 28.400 | Norman Levine | Used to be a electric distributor but is now more of a gas distributor and is a growth utility. Looking to expand into the US. Well managed. | 2010-08-11 | |
| TOP PICK | 28.960 | Christine Poole | Big, boring utility. Natural gas and electricity distributing company. Expect their rate base to grow by about 6% annually for the next 5 years. Yield of almost 4% with a record of increased dividends. | 2010-07-26 | |
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| BUY | 28.730 | David Cockfield | One of his core holdings. Yield is not that exciting but they have a growth profile. Just holds on to it. Pretty good about increasing the dividend. | 2010-07-22 | |
| BUY | 27.180 | Michael Sprung | Big utility. A little expensive for him right now. Expected to earn around $1.60-$1.65 in 2011 but on a price to cash flow basis, the dividend is extremely well covered. If you like the yield, it is not a bad place to be. | 2010-06-30 | |
| BUY | 28.150 | Peter Brieger | Yes it is a good entry point. Large part of business is regulated. Likes it for yield and stead growth of earnings per share. | 2010-06-15 | |
| TOP PICK | 27.620 | Douglas Kee | Core holding. Long term. Primarily gas and electric distribution. They have small business out east. Well diversified. Really good model and good culture. Their problem is they have to do some acquisitions in the States to grow. | 2010-06-02 | |
| BUY | 26.500 | Michael Smedley | Tends to be something that is not adversely affected by the very emotional downturns that we've had recently. The downturn of the stock might have been as a result of the banks talking about higher interest rates, which is now being downplayed. | 2010-05-27 | |
| BUY on WEAKNESS | 26.260 | Brooke Thackray | Utilities tend to do better in July. Tend to get hit with the market in the beginning and then people tend to get attracted later in July and in September. Below $25 would be a good time to look at this. | 2010-05-06 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 28.080 | Nick Majendie | (A Top Pick Apr 16/09. Up 27.24%.) | 2010-05-04 | |
| Comment | 28.310 | Douglas Kee | Increased dividend for 37 years in a row. Big Cap X going on out west. Looking for 5-10% growth. | 2010-04-20 | |
| Comment | 28.060 | Jim Huang | Diversified utility company. Have done a lot of expanding into other provinces in the last few years. Well run. Have been growing their dividend for 30 some years. Not cheap. Good one to own. | 2010-04-19 | |
| HOLD | 27.760 | Peter Brieger | (Market Call Minute.) Great utility going forward but could be under pressure from higher interest rates. | 2010-04-15 | |
| DON'T BUY | 28.560 | Peter Brieger | Has gone back to its old highs and has a yield of 4% and its multiple is fairly high. For good defensive stocks consider Pembina (PIF.UN-T), Inter Pipeline Fund (IPL.UN-T) and perhaps even Enbridge (ENB-T). | 2010-03-12 | |
| BUY | 27.270 | David Cockfield | Likes the utilities. Has better management then TA-T but not as good a yield. | 2010-02-26 | |
| BUY | 27.340 | Peter Brieger | Capital gains potential is about 10% plus yield of about 4%. 200 day moving average is 4% lower. He likes the risk reward ratio. | 2010-02-17 | |
| TOP PICK | 26.690 | Lyle Stein | Long-term hold for his firm. Boring utility company. Great base. Pays an ever-increasing dividend year after year. Expansion opportunities. | 2010-02-12 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 27.300 | David Baskin | (A Top Pick Feb 9/09. Up 13% excluding dividends.) The only company that has raised its dividends 37 years in a row. Blue chip good for long-term investors. | 2010-02-08 | |
| DON'T BUY | 28.260 | Brian Acker, CA | His model price is $23.87, a -16% differential. Although it has 4% yield, yield is not valuation. When you go for yield, you are paying huge amounts of valuation. | 2010-02-03 | |
| TOP PICK | 28.160 | Randy LeClair | Series H 4.25%. Diversified utility, so thinks it will do very well. | 2010-01-26 | |
| BUY | 28.210 | Michael Smedley | (Market call minute) Nice. | 2010-01-21 | |
| TOP PICK | 28.660 | David Baskin | (A Top Pick Feb 9/09. Up 21.55%.) Recently raised its dividend for the 37th consecutive year. | 2010-01-14 | |
| BUY | 28.700 | Douglas Kee | Primarily into electrical distribution but with some generation. Well diversified across Canada and somewhat into the Caribbean. Good dividend record. | 2010-01-08 | |
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| Comment | 28.650 | Barry Schwartz | (Market Call Minute.) Nice dividend but not a lot of upside. | 2010-01-04 | |
| BUY | 28.160 | Peter Brieger | It’s expensive (17 times next year’s earnings), but so are other utilities. There has been a push toward high yielding (3%+) security. | 2009-12-14 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 27.140 | Nick Majendie | (A Top Pick Apr 16/09. Up 24.56%.) Still a Hold. | 2009-12-09 | |
| TOP PICK | 26.610 | Norman Levine | Canada’s Growth utility. Started in Newfoundland only and spread west and to 3 Caribbean countries. Raises capital and buys utilities. Dividend gone up in each of last 37 years. 3.9% dividend. | 2009-12-08 | |
| BUY | 26.190 | Laura Wallace | Just received a favourable decision from Alberta regulators, increasing their deemed equity and rate of return so a dividend increase is possible but may not be likely in the near term. Good company. Diversified base in Alberta. | 2009-11-26 | |
| BUY | 26.440 | David Baskin | (Market Call Minute.) Excellent value play. High income. Very stable company. | 2009-11-19 | |
| DON'T BUY | 25.400 | Stan Wong | A little bit boring in this environment. Utilities will not do very well in a recovering economy and rising stock market. | 2009-11-04 | |
| BUY | 25.360 | Peter Brieger | Hydro-Quebec’s takeover of New Brunswick Power shouldn't have any effect on this stock. Growth of possibly 10% and yield of 4.11% for a total return of about 14%. | 2009-11-02 | |
| BUY | 25.120 | Norman Levine | Canada’s growth utility. Always looking for something to buy that makes sense. Grows dividend every year. | 2009-10-13 | |
| BUY | 25.490 | Rick Stuchberry | Because utilities do not have the growth line, you have to ask about their yield structure. This one has increased dividends each year for the last 25-30 years. | 2009-10-09 | |
| BUY | 24.800 | Peter Brieger | He has a half position and would buy on any weakness but doesn't think it will be very much. If you're looking out 1 or 2 years this is not a bad entry point. 4.2% yield. | 2009-10-01 | |
| BUY | 24.990 | Prakash Hariharan | Utilities have not moved up in comparison to bank stocks. He prefers the utilities now. Likes it, but prefers EMA-T. | 2009-09-29 | |
| BUY | 25.050 | Bruce Campbell | Likes it for a long-term hold, prefers to TA-T. Has a better track record, and more geographically diverse. | 2009-09-15 | |
| BUY | 24.990 | Peter Brieger | Consensus returns on capital gains is about 13% and with a yield of about 4.2% gives a pretty good 17% one-year return on a conservative stock. Good forcastable earnings. | 2009-09-10 | |
| BUY | 25.190 | Andrew Guy, CFA | Regulated utility. In the last few years have done a great job of diversifying but into regulated businesses that they know very well. Stable, strong free cash flow. Good management. | 2009-09-04 | |
| TOP PICK | 25.400 | Rick Stuchberry | A utility that has power generation, big gas distribution operation in BC, power assets in the Caribbean and owns buildings. Has increased its dividend every year for 3 decades. 4.1% yield. | 2009-08-27 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 25.400 | Nick Majendie | (A Top Pick Apr 16/09. Down 2.29%.) | 2009-08-27 | |
| BUY | 25.920 | Norman Levine | Canada's growth utility and is growing across Canada and internationally. | 2009-08-24 | |
| BUY | 25.920 | Jim Huang | If you are looking for utilities, you are looking for a defensive position and a dividend yield so this one would be a decent purchase. Good management. Reasonable value. Doesn't see a lot of upside on prices. | 2009-08-24 | |
| Comment | 24.900 | Mike S. Newton, CIM FCSI | (Market Call Minute.) An excellent long-term utility that you can hold here. | 2009-08-11 | |
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| Comment | 26.000 | Michael Sprung | Recently announced an acquisition of Great Lakes power. One of the uncertainties is that the Ontario Energy Board has put off their cost of capital decision, which regulates what they can charge. Until that is decided earnings can't be calculated. Defensive. | 2009-06-26 | |
| BUY on WEAKNESS | 24.350 | Don Vialoux | Company has a long history of growth. Technically it has formed a nice base followed by a nice run and broke out through its trading range. Short-term indicators are probably showing overbought at this time. Preferred strategy is to wait for weakness, perhaps $22. | 2009-06-02 | |
| BUY | 23.820 | Michael Sprung | First quarter missed by a little and probably was from some Caribbean operations. Overall a fairly solid company. You can pretty much depend on the dividend, which is over 4%. | 2009-05-27 | |
| BUY | 23.200 | David Baskin | Good for a long-term hold. Well managed. Thinks it has raised its dividend 33 years in a row. | 2009-05-19 | |
| BUY | 22.750 | Randy LeClair | Utility bonds would be safer in an economic storm. These could include Enbridge (ENB-T), Trans Canada (TRP-T) and Fortis (FTS-T) Fortis is probably the weaker of the 3 with a slightly lower credit rating. Very solid names. | 2009-05-05 | |
| BUY | 22.850 | Peter Brieger | Probably will buy this. Hold for 3-4 years. Will be growth in dividends. | 2009-05-04 | |
| TOP PICK | 22.450 | Gavin Graham | 4.6% yield, regular increases. Very successful acquirer without many issues. | 2009-04-27 | |
| TOP PICK | 22.570 | Nick Majendie | Predictable earnings and growth over time. Yield 4.6%. They see double-digit returns. Risk would be if interest rates got into double digits. It’s a low risk investment. | 2009-04-16 | |
| BUY | 22.220 | David Cockfield | (Market Call Minute.) A core stock. Good management. Reasonable yield. | 2009-04-09 | |
| Comment | 21.910 | David Burrows | Think they raised their dividends 36 years in a row. Making a lot of investments in regulated utilities. Looks as though money is now moving from less risky assets to riskier ones so this may not participate much in an equity rally. If you're just looking for income, this could be ideal. | 2009-03-30 | |
| BUY | 22.300 | Jeff Parent B. Eng. FCSI | He is buying preferred shares. Utility that is paying a fairly decent dividend. The kind of stock you want to have in your core holdings. At the low end of its range and thinks it will go back up to the $25 level especially if the market continues to rally. | 2009-03-18 | |
| BUY | 23.450 | Sandy McIntyre | A high quality income security. 4.6% yield. Has a reinvestment plan. | 2009-02-24 | |
| TOP PICK | 24.150 | David Baskin | People are nervous and he expects they will first go to high dividend stocks. 4.3% yield. | 2009-02-09 | |
| BUY | 24.090 | Michael Decter | Had run up a long ways. Did an issue and it came off a bit. Good growth company with decent dividends. Likes it for the long haul. 4.3% yield. Very good assets. Good management. | 2009-01-28 | |
| BUY | 23.760 | Norman Levine | Growth utility, mostly electrical with some international assets. Good management. Earnings outlook is good. Good defensive play. 4.4% dividend and growing. | 2009-01-27 | |
| BUY | 24.590 | Michael Smedley | Solid with good dividends of 4.25%. Quite aggressive as one of the few utilities we have. | 2008-12-31 | |
| BUY | 27.280 | David Burrows | The right kind of name for this kind of market. Has attributes he is looking for. Predictability, solid yield of 3.6%, covers the dividend well, growth going forward and generates cash. | 2008-12-01 | |
| BUY | 24.000 | Gavin Graham | (Market Call Minute.) You have B.C., Newfoundland and the Caribbean. Very well run. Has growth. | 2008-09-17 | |
| BUY | 25.880 | David Baskin | Not exciting, but nice and steady. If you are looking for a blue chip with a high dividend and a history of raising dividends, this is not a bad one. Trading at a slightly suppressed price. 4% yield. | 2008-09-02 | |
| Comment | 25.050 | Robert Floyd | At this price, it represents decent value. More of a defensive play and as defensive plays become more in vogue, it will move back up. Well managed. | 2008-08-21 | |
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| BUY | 25.400 | Norman Levine | Money will be flowing out of BCE (BCE-T) and Transalta (TA-T) looking for a home in the regulated area. This is a natural. Under priced. | 2008-07-21 |
