The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 39 points to close out the previous week on Friday, November 25. Utilities was the best-performing sector to close out last week’s trading session. Today, I want to look at two of the top utility stocks on the TSX. Indeed, they are two of the most dependable dividend stocks on the TSX. Let’s jump in.
This utility stock was Canada’s first Dividend King
Canadian Utilities (TSX:CU) is a Calgary-based company that is engaged in the electricity, natural gas, and retail energy businesses worldwide. Shares of this utility stock have been mostly static in 2022 as of close on November 28. The stock is up 3.8% year over year.
This company released its third-quarter fiscal 2022 results on October 27. Canadian Utilities reported adjusted earnings of $120 million — up from $88 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2021. Meanwhile, adjusted earnings climbed to $475 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2022 compared to $394 million in the year-to-date period in the prior year.
Shares of this utility stock currently possess a favourable price-to-earnings ratio of 16. Canadian Utilities increased its quarterly dividend to $0.444 per share in 2022. That represents a very solid 4.8% yield. This utility stock has now delivered dividend growth for 50 consecutive years. This makes Canadian Utilities the first Dividend King in the history of the TSX. That should pique investor interest in this stock as a long-term hold.
Here’s a dependable utility stock that is also chasing a dividend crown
Fortis (TSX:FTS) is the second utility stock I’d look to snatch up in the final days of November. This St. John’s-based utility holding company has dropped 10% in the year-to-date period. Its shares have fallen 3.7% compared to the same time in 2021.
The company unveiled its third-quarter fiscal 2022 earnings on October 28. Fortis delivered adjusted net earnings of $341 million, or $0.71 per common share — up from $300 million, or $0.64 per common share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2021. In the first nine months of fiscal 2022, Fortis reported adjusted net earnings of $982 million, or $2.06 per common share, compared to $919 million, or $1.96 per common share, in the prior year-to-date period.
In the third quarter of 2022, Fortis released its 2023-2027 capital plan of $22.3 billion. It is expected to deliver rate base growth of $34.0 billion in 2022 to $46.1 billion in 2027. This represents rate base growth of 6.2%. The company has provided dividend growth guidance of 4-6% annually through to the end of the capital plan forecast. That should pique investor interest in this highly dependable utility stock.
This utility stock currently offers a quarterly dividend of $0.565 per share. That represents a 4.1% yield. Fortis has achieved 48 straight years of annual dividend increases. It is on track to become the next Dividend King on the TSX by the middle of this decade.
