Normally, utility stocks aren’t very exciting. But, after a magnificent 35% rally over the past year, well, the utility sector is no doubt exciting right now. In fact, some investors might be thinking that the sector isn’t worth looking at anymore. That isn’t really true if you spend a little time examining utilities like Constellation Energy (NASDAQ: CEG), NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE), and Black Hills (NYSE: BKH) as October gets underway.
1. Constellation Energy is leading the nuclear renaissance
Clean energy is all the rage, with solar and wind power investment expanding at a rapid clip. But there’s another clean energy option that often gets forgotten, nuclear power. Constellation Energy is a competitive power company (which means it sells electricity outside of the traditional regulatory framework) with ownership stakes in 14 nuclear power stations which contain 25 nuclear power units. This is important because nuclear power is in the news, for good reasons, right now.
A private company has just been awarded government funding to reopen a shuttered nuclear power plant. Now, Constellation Energy has begun the process of reopening a nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island, with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) agreeing to buy all of the power it produces for the next 20 years. To be fair, the stock shot up after management announced the news. But if nuclear power is about to become a more important energy source, Constellation Energy is probably one of the best ways to invest directly in the future of nuclear power. If you’re interested in investing in popular trends, you should take a closer look at this utility right away.
2. NextEra Energy is growing its dividend very quickly
NextEra Energy isn’t exactly a new story on Wall Street. In fact, the story behind this stock is so well known that the shares usually trade at a premium relative to peers. But if you are a dividend growth investor, that premium could be worth paying. Why? Because NextEra Energy’s dividend has grown at a 10% annualized clip over the past one-, three-, five-, and 10-year periods.
The company is…
..
