The dividend has increased by an average of 3.2% per year over the past 10 years and has been stable with no material reductions to payments, indicating a long track record of dividend growth and stability. Sustainability & Growth Dividend is covered by earnings (57% earnings payout ratio) but the company has no free cash flows available, indicating it may be using cash reserves or debt to pay the dividend. The dividend has increased by an average of 6.8% per year over the past 10 years and has been stable with no material reductions to payments, indicating a long track record of dividend growth and stability. Sustainability & Growth Dividend is covered by earnings (71% earnings payout ratio) but the company has no free cash flows available, indicating it may be using cash reserves or debt to pay the dividend. Filter, sort and analyze all stocks to find your next investment. All stocks mentioned in this article as fund holdings were held as of November 30, 2025.
References to specific securities or investment themes are for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as recommendations or investment advice. Unless otherwise noted, the opinions provided are those of the author and not necessarily those of Fidelity Investments or its affiliates. Views expressed are as of the date indicated, based on the information available at that time, and may change based on market and other conditions. Information presented herein is for discussion and illustrative purposes only and is not a recommendation or an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities. Unloved but well positioned, this innovative sector may offer long-term drivers and low valuations. Lastly, utilities need to make sure that large AI and industrial customers are paying their fair share, and that retail customers are not forced to subsidize these larger power consumers.
- However, initiatives like the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners distributed energy resources security baselines and the Electric Power Research Institute’s Open Power AI Consortium are creating reference points for validation and digital trust.43
- Artificial intelligence remains the most important influence within the utilities sector.
- This contract points to American Electric Power Company committing capital and operational attention to a relatively new generation technology at sizeable scale, which could influence future capacity planning, fuel choices and grid reliability.
- To satisfy this growing demand, significant investment in the domestic power grid and new power generation may be required, putting utilities at the center of the AI boom.
- Utilities are expected to integrate multi-year, multi-vendor supply agreements, embed grid-enhancing technologies, and use digital tools to track supplier and inventory risks in real time.
- We sell different types of products and services to both investment professionals and individual investors.
Because of its narrow focus, sector investing tends to be more volatile than investments that diversify across many sectors and companies. Stock markets are volatile and can decline significantly in response to adverse issuer, political, regulatory, market, or economic developments. This piece may contain assumptions that are “forward-looking statements,” which are based on certain assumptions of future events. Investment decisions should be based on an individual’s own goals, time horizon, and tolerance for risk. These views must not be relied upon as an indication of trading intent of any Fidelity fund or Fidelity advisor. This information must not be relied upon in making any investment decision.
Industry outlooks
This exposure to AI, the most powerful trend driving the equity market over the past two to three years, gave utilities—in particular, electric utilities and independent power producers—a performance edge during the past year. For investors, one of the most attractive features of utility companies is their typically steady and predictable cash flows, which can become a source of income for shareholders through dividend payments. Amid this uncertain environment, utilities were an attractive investment for many investors. Equity market volatility spiked in the early months of 2025, largely due to a dramatic shift in U.S. trade policy, including the imposition of new tariffs, by the incoming Trump administration. To further protect the integrity of our editorial content, we keep a strict separation between our sales teams and authors to remove https://expandsuccess.org/creating-a-budget-that-works/ any pressure or influence on our analyses and research.
Stocks
- While the use of fossil fuels, such as coal and natural gas, may continue to incrementally decline, renewable energy could be a key area of growth to bridge this supply and demand power gap.
- Secondly, retail customer affordability must remain top of mind for regulated utilities.
- The cost of a new gas-fired power plant has surged to more than two and a half times that of projects built just a few years ago.46
- Sustainability & Growth Dividend is covered by earnings (57% earnings payout ratio) but the company has no free cash flows available, indicating it may be using cash reserves or debt to pay the dividend.
- Additionally, utilities are exploring federated learning techniques to improve models across sites while keeping data local, offering a secure path to expand system intelligence.36 Together, this infrastructure can help balance resilience, compliance, and scalability for enterprise adoption.
Going forward, the build-out of infrastructure to satisfy surging power demand could require massive investment in power generation, transmission, and distribution across the sector. Hyperscalers are working quickly to secure long-term deals with power producers to fuel their data centers and feed power-hungry chips as demand for AI applications grows. To satisfy this growing demand, significant investment in the domestic power grid http://progesteroneand.net/Technical_overview.html and new power generation may be required, putting utilities at the center of the AI boom. Electric companies are expected to make massive investments to modernize the grid to address growing electricity demand. This publication contains general information only, and none of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, its member firms, or its and their affiliates are, by means of this publication, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax, or other professional advice or services.
Plus, inside the Q2 mid-cap stock surge, jobs data ahead, and are refinery stocks a buy after a dip? AI stocks are among the most vulnerable to higher bond yields, one analyst says. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Shake Shack among the worst-performing stocks last week. The AI age is expected to require scaling data centers, grid capacity, and supply chains. Access more insights for the aerospace and defense, chemicals and specialty materials, engineering and construction, industrial manufacturing, mining and metals, oil and gas, power and utilities, and renewable energy sectors. Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”), its network of member firms, and their related entities.
In 2026, the challenge for utilities will be quickly delivering uninterrupted or “firm” capacity to stressed parts of the grid.7 Customer affordability will remain a central pressure point as retail prices continue to rise. The energy mix is shifting toward renewables, which accounted for 93% of new capacity through July 2025, with solar and storage making up 83%.4 But the pace of connecting these new energy sources has lagged. In tandem with Deloitte’s energy, resources, and industrials leadership, she drives energy research initiatives and manages the execution of the center’s strategy as well as its eminence and thought leadership. Upcoming Dividend • Aug 24Upcoming dividend of US$0.39 per shareEligible shareholders must have bought the stock before 31 https://ymlp280.net/the-beginners-guide-to-finding-the-starting-point/ August 2026.
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