Updated on July 8th, 2025 by Felix Martinez
The Dividend Kings are a group of just 55 stocks that have increased their dividends for at least 50 years in a row. We believe the Dividend Kings are among the highest-quality dividend growth stocks to buy and hold for the long term.
With this in mind, we created a full list of all the Dividend Kings.
You can download the full list, along with important financial metrics such as dividend yields and price-to-earnings ratios, by clicking on the link below:
Each year, we individually review all the Dividend Kings. The next in the series is Canadian Utilities (CDUAF).
Canadian Utilities has increased its dividend for 53 consecutive years, making it the only Canadian company on the list of Dividend Kings. This article will provide a more detailed analysis of the company.
Business Overview
Canadian Utilities is a utility stock with approximately 9,000 employees. ATCO owns 53% of Canadian Utilities. Based in Alberta, Canadian Utilities is a diversified global energy infrastructure corporation that delivers solutions in electricity, pipelines & liquid, and retail energy.
The company has a long history of generating steady growth and consistent profits across economic cycles.
Source: Investor Presentation
Growth Prospects
By benefiting from a stable business model, Canadian Utilities can slowly but progressively grow its earnings. The company consistently invests appreciable amounts in new projects and benefits from base rate increases, which tend to hover between 3% and 4% per year.
As growth in the regulated utilities space remains rather limited, Canadian Utilities is now seeking to expand its business through the strategic acquisition of renewable generation assets.
Investment capital is expected to provide the company with immediate scale and future growth through its development pipeline, while also benefiting from the advantages of long-term purchase power agreements, which are common in wind projects.
Combining the company’s growth projects and the potential for modest margin improvements, we maintain our expected average annual growth rate over the next five years at 4%. Our expected annual dividend growth rate remains at 2.5%.
The company will likely improve its payout ratio before its new projects start producing enough cash flows to re-accelerate dividend growth. The stock’s historical 10-year average annual dividend growth rate of 4.4% is sufficient to compensate for currency fluctuations and the progressively growing income of investors.
Competitive Advantages & Recession Performance
The company’s competitive advantage lies in the moat surrounding regulated utilities. With no easy entry into the sector, regulated utilities enjoy an oligopolistic market with little threat of competition. The company’s resilience has been proven decade after decade.
Another competitive advantage is the company’s strong financial position. Canadian Utilities has investment-grade credit ratings of BBB+ from Standard & Poor’s and A- from Fitch. This allows the company to raise capital at attractive interest rates.
The company also has a strong balance sheet with a well-laddered debt maturity profile, which will help sustain the dividend, even if interest rates remain elevated.
Source: Investor Presentation
Despite multiple recessions and uncertain environments over the past 50 years, the company has withstood every one of them while raising its dividend.
While Canadian Utilities’ payout ratio came under pressure during 2020 (though dividends were, in reality, covered from its operating cash flows, excluding depreciation and amortization), by 2030, we expect it to have returned to more comfortable levels of around 75% of its net income.
The company performed exceptionally well during previous recessions and economic downturns, including the coronavirus pandemic.
We would expect Canadian Utilities to perform relatively well in future recessions, given that the company operates in a virtually recession-proof industry.
Valuation & Expected Returns
Using the current share price of ~$27 and expected earnings-per-share of US$1.73 for the running fiscal year, Canadian Utilities is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.6. Our fair earnings multiple for Canadian Utilities is 15.0.
Therefore, the stock seems to be overvalued at its current price level. If the stock trades at our assumed fair valuation level in 2029, it will incur a -0.5% annualized valuation headwind over the next five years.
Aside from changes in the price-to-earnings ratio, future returns will be driven by earnings growth and dividend yields.
We expect 4% annual earnings growth over the next five years, as utilities are generally slow-growth businesses. In addition, Canadian Utilities currently pays a quarterly dividend.
At current exchange rates, this translates to an annualized dividend of $1.35 per share in U.S. dollars for a 4.9% dividend yield.
Total returns could consist of the following:
- 4% earnings growth
- -0.5% multiple contraction
- 4.9% dividend yield
Given all the above, Canadian Utilities is expected to offer an average annual total return of 8.9% over the next five years.
As a result, we have a hold recommendation on the stock while we also remain confident in the company’s ability to raise dividends through a recessionary environment.
Final Thoughts
Canadian Utilities has a strong growth record and a positive outlook for the future. However, we currently find the stock somewhat overvalued. As a result, shares may offer a 8.9% average annual total return over the next five years.
The stock is likely to continue raising its dividend for many more years, as the business is expected to perform well during recessions.
Canadian Utilities also has an above-average yield of 4.9%, which is attractive to risk-averse income investors, such as retirees.
Nevertheless, due to the somewhat rich valuation of the stock, we recommend waiting for a lower entry point before opening a position.
Additional Reading
The following databases of stocks contain stocks with very long dividend or corporate histories, ripe for selection for dividend growth investors.
- The Dividend Aristocrats List: S&P 500 stocks with 25+ years of dividend increases.
- The High Yield Dividend Aristocrats List is comprised of the 20 Dividend Aristocrats with the highest current yields.
- The Dividend Achievers List is comprised of ~350 stocks with 10+ years of consecutive dividend increases.
- The High Yield Dividend Kings List is comprised of the 20 Dividend Kings with the highest current yields.
- The Blue Chip Stocks List: stocks that qualify as Dividend Achievers, Dividend Aristocrats, and/or Dividend Kings
- The High Dividend Stocks List: stocks that appeal to investors interested in the highest yields of 5% or more.
- The Monthly Dividend Stocks List: stocks that pay dividends every month, for 12 dividend payments per year.
- The Dividend Champions List: stocks that have increased their dividends for 25+ consecutive years.
Note: Not all Dividend Champions are Dividend Aristocrats because Dividend Aristocrats have additional requirements like being in The S&P 500. - The Dividend Contenders List: 10-24 consecutive years of dividend increases.
- The Dividend Challengers List: 5-9 consecutive years of dividend increases.
- The Best DRIP Stocks: The top 15 Dividend Aristocrats with no-fee dividend reinvestment plans.
- The High ROIC Stocks List: The top 10 stocks with high returns on invested capital.
- The High Beta Stocks List: The 100 stocks in the S&P 500 Index with the highest beta.
- The Low Beta Stocks List: The 100 stocks in the S&P 500 Index with the lowest beta.
- The Complete List of Russell 2000 Stocks
- The Complete List of NASDAQ-100 Stocks