9 Low Beta Utility Stocks Yielding Over 4%

The U.S. economy continues to have significant headwinds (e.g., high unemployment, end of QE2, weak housing market, etc.) and the looming debt ceiling deadline has certainly enhanced investor uncertainty.In the current market environment, it is important for income investors to choose their dividend stocks wisely as they are putting new money to work. As volatility increases (especially downside volatility), investors may want to add some low beta stocks to their holdings to help dampen portfolio volatility. In general, companies with low betas will tend to be less volatile than the general market.In general, Utility stocks hold up very well in a stagnating economy. In addition, since most utility stocks tend to operate with relatively high debt levels, a low interest rate environment is ideal for these stocks.With that in mind, we did a screen with the following parameters to find low beta utility stocks with stable dividend... Read more