Best Dividend Stocks To Own For 2015

Best Dividend Stocks To Own For 2015: Consolidated Edison Company of New York Inc. (ED)

Consolidated Edison, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides electric, gas, and steam utility services in the United States. It provides electric service to approximately 3.3 million customers and gas service to approximately 1.1 million customers in New York City and Westchester County, as well as provides steam service to office buildings and apartment houses in parts of Manhattan. The company also provides electric service to approximately 0.3 million customers in southeastern New York and in adjacent areas of northern New Jersey, and northeastern Pennsylvania; and gas service to approximately 0.1 million customers in southeastern New York and adjacent areas of northeastern Pennsylvania. In addition, Consolidated Edison involves in the sale and related hedging of electricity to wholesale and retail customers; operation of generating plants; participation in other infrastructure projects; and provision of energy-efficiency services, including the design and installation of lighting retrofits, high-efficiency heating, ventilating and air conditioning equipment, and other energy saving technologies to government and commercial customers. It serves residential, industrial, and large commercial customers. The company was founded in 1884 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Doug Ehrman]

  Utility companies are well known for their solid dividends, and both Duke Energy stock (NYSE: DUK  ) and b stock (NYSE: ED  ) are no different. Duke Energy stock pays a dividend of 4.5% and ConEd pays 4.3%, but it's the future of these two companies that investors must consider. As both face anemic growth in electricity demand, each must make choices about how to remain competitive.

• [By GURUFOCUS]

  Fair Value: In calculating fair value, I consider the NPV MMA Differential Fair Value along with these four calculations of! fair value, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:
  
  1. Avg. High Yield Price
  2. 20-Year DCF Price
  3. Avg. P/E Price
  4. Graham Number
  
  SYY is trading at a premium to all four valuations above. The stock is trading at a 37.5% premium to its calculated fair value of $26.26. SYY did not earn any Stars in this section.
  
  Dividend Analytical Data: In this section there are three possible Stars and three key metrics, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:
  
  1. Free Cash Flow Payout
  2. Debt To Total Capital
  3. Key Metrics
  4. Dividend Growth Rate
  5. Years of Div. Growth
  6. Rolling 4-yr Div. > 15%
  
  SYY earned two Stars in this section for 2.) and 3.) above. The stock earned a Star as a result of its most recent Debt to Total Capital being less than 45%. SYY earned a Star for having an acceptable score in at least two of the four Key Metrics measured. The company has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1970 and has increased its dividend payments for 43 consecutive years.
  
  Dividend Income vs. MMA: Why would you assume the equity risk and invest in a dividend stock if you could earn a better return in a much less risky money market account (MMA) or Treasury bond? This section compares the earning ability of this stock with a high yield MMA. Two items are considered in this section, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:
  
  1. NPV MMA Diff.
  2. Years to > MMA
  
  The NPV MMA Diff. of the $282 is below the $500 target I look for in a stock that has increased dividends as long as SYY has. If SYY grows its dividend at 3.6% per year, it will take 3 years to equal a MMA yielding an estimated 20-year average rate of 3.41%. SYY earned a check for the Key Metric 'Years to >MMA' since its 3 years is le

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Until recently, Consolidated Edison (NYSE: ED  ) was arguably one of those stocks that made the Aristocrats lis! t on a te! chnicality, as it had made minimal half-penny increases in its quarterly payout for more than 15 years. But this past year, the utility boosted its dividend by a full penny, and while that's small, it could be significant in signaling an acceleration of its dividend increases. Let's take a closer look at Consolidated Edison to see whether this faster dividend growth is likely to continue.

• [By Abba's Aces]

  Duke Energy is fairly valued based on future earnings but expensive on future growth prospects (one-year outlook). Financially, the dividend payout ratio is high and I don't believe management will be able to continue to increase the dividend going forward by much. The technical situation of how the stock is currently trading is what is telling me that it can trade a bit lower for now as the stock has downward trajectory on the RSI and MACD charts. I'm going to buy a small batch in the stock for now in hopes that I can get a larger stake at a later date with a higher yield at a lower price because I believe interest rates are going to pick up again. Consolidated Edison (ED) and Duke Energy are the only two utility companies I hold in my dividend portfolio and I like the earnings growth story better for Duke better even though the dividend growth story for Consolidated Edison is a bit brighter. I've been buying a little bit of both because I can't say that I prefer one over the other.

source from Top Stocks To Buy For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/best-dividend-stocks-to-own-for-2015-2.html