Tag Archives: NYSE:FTS

Fortis (TSX:FTS) Stock: Is It a Buy?

Fortis (TSX:FTS)(NYSE:FTS) stock is as stable as stocks go. It’s perfect for conservative and risk-averse investors. Its predictable profitability has allowed it to be one of two Canadian Dividend Aristocrats with continuous dividend increases for 46 years or longer.

Dividend Safety

Fortis stock has a 10-year dividend growth rate of about 6%. The top North American utility is so confident about its growth that it already announced its intention to continue increasing its dividend at an average annual growth rate of 6% through 2024.

Its payout ratio has been at about 70%, and that’s not about to change.

Predictable Business & Profitability

Fortis has 10 utility operations diversified across Canada, the U.S., and the Caribbean. It’s a regulated utility with a focus on electricity/natural gas transmission and distribution assets and highly predictable earnings.

Thanks to management’s excellent decisions in making strategic U.S. acquisitions: Central Hudson (in 2013), UNS Energy (in 2014), and ITC Holdings (in 2016), especially when the loonie was super strong against the greenback in 2013 and 2014, Fortis has greatly diversified its operations and now earns about 65% of its earnings from the U.S.

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How to Create a Passive Income Portfolio

To create a passive income portfolio, you can invest in bonds or stocks that generate interest or dividend income without you having to lift a finger. I prefer to invest in stocks which have outperformed bonds in the long run.

I also like the concept of investing in stocks because I’m owning stakes in businesses and benefiting from their profits (although I also take on their risks). This is markedly different from purchasing bonds for which you’re lending your money to governments or corporations for interests in return.

In fact, dividend investing is my favorite way to generate passive income. There are so many safe dividend stocks to choose from. Even in a booming stock market like today, you can still find quality businesses at good valuations.

Here’s how to create a passive dividend income portfolio:

  • Buy stocks that offer safe dividends at good valuations
  • Diversify but don’t di-worsify
  • Aim for a low-maintenance portfolio that’s replicable, scalable, and can be largely automated
grow a money tree

Buy stocks that offer safe dividends

The U.S. and Canadian stock markets offer yields of 1.8% and 2.8%, respectively. There are plenty of safe dividend stocks that offer higher yields of about 3-6%.

However, typically, the higher the yield of a stock, the slower its dividend growth will be. (Sometimes, high yielders don’t increase their dividends.) Similarly, low yield stocks tend to increase their dividends faster. Typically, dividend growth stocks are safer and better than stocks that simply maintain their dividends.

Buy stocks at good valuations to protect your invested capital and maximize your gains.

Here are a few examples.

A high yield example

NorthWest Healthcare Properties REIT (TSX:NWH.UN) owns a high quality portfolio of medical office buildings and hospital properties in major markets in Canada, Brazil, Germany, The Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand.

The healthcare REIT generates stable cash flows from having a high occupancy of about 96% and a weighted average lease expiry of 13 years. Additionally, it gets organic growth from having more than 70% of its net operating income indexed to inflation. It also has CAD$370 million projects in its development pipeline that’ll also add to growth.

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Fortis Inc.: A Quality Utility That Looks Cheap?!

The main content for this article first appeared in the Seeking Alpha Marketplace service DGI Across North America, in which other utilities were discussed.

Utilities have been great income-growth investments over the long term. The Canadian utilities have dipped meaningfully recently. So, I think it’s a great time to check out Fortis Inc. (TSX:FTS)(NYSE:FTS).

electric distribution

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