Portfolio of Electric Utilities Stocks

Well-managed electric utilities are excellent candidates for a dividend reinvestment portfolio. Typically, electric utilities generate lots of excess cash and pay it out as dividends to shareholders.

Look for a company that has consistent earnings growth, a long history of rising dividends and a reasonable payout ratio, which is the ratio of dividends to earnings. A low payout ratio (less than 70 percent) indicates the possibility of future dividend increases. A very high payout ratio (greater than 90 percent) may not be sustainable and may signal a dividend cut in the future.

If the dividend yield (annual dividend divided by stock price) is very high (greater than six or seven percent) the company may have problems - the high yield may be due to a low stock price. Be very wary of stocks with high dividend yields and high payout ratios.

The following table includes 10 electric utilities that have multiyear histories of increasing their dividends. These stocks are worth considering for a dividend reinvestment portfolio.

Dividend-Paying Electric Utilities Stocks
Name & Monthly Returns	Symbol & Snapshot	Dividend (Yield) & Dividend Chart
American Electric Power	AEP	$3.32 (4.11%)
Consolidated Edison	ED	$3.24 (3.70%)
Dominion Energy	D	$2.67 (5.50%)
Duke Energy	DUK	$4.10 (4.52%)
Entergy	ETR	$4.28 (4.45%)
Hawaiian Electric Industries	HE	$1.44 (11.97%)
PPL Corporation	PPL	$0.96 (3.58%)
Southern Energy	SO	$2.80 (4.13%)
Wisconsin Energy	WEC	$3.12 (3.60%)
Xcel Energy	XEL	$2.08 (3.33%)
Dividend data from Alpha Vantage as of Sep-01-2023.
Display Price Chart for each stock.
Display Dividend Chart for each stock.

Portfolio Values

To inspect the performance of the Dividend-Paying Electric Utilities Stocks portfolio, see the chart below. Portfolio values are computed using monthly closes for stocks from Alpha Vantage.

All 10 stocks are included in the portfolio computations. The current value of the portfolio assumes that $1,000.00 was invested in each stock at its closing monthly price for the first date shown on the portfolio value chart below. All prices are adjusted for splits and dividends.

The current value of the $10,000 investment is $12,883. The percent return is 28.83%. The annualized return is 5.20%.

Portfolio Value Chart for Last 100 Daily Closes

See Portfolio of Dividend Income Stocks: Electric Utilities.