Top 10 Utility Stocks For Dividend Growth And Income

The flight to safety in a volatile market has caused the utility sector to outperform the indexes.
The sector isn't completely immune, however, as the correction has dropped many utilities below my fair value target.
My thirty stock watch list is updated for 2020, with my Top 10 picks selected for future income and total return potential.

We are currently experiencing one of the most volatile markets on record, as the S&P Volatility Index "VIX" has now far surpassed numbers seen during the Great Recession of '08/'09.
Data by YCharts
This has been especially evident of late, with share prices in the utility sector swinging by double-digit percentages on a daily basis. I never thought I'd see the day that utility giants Dominion Energy (NYSE: D), Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE), and Southern Company (NYSE: SO) would make 10-15% moves, but here we are.
However, despite some big losses in utility companies, the sector as a whole is living up to its name as a safety sector. The Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU) has an astounding 23% loss over the last month, but that's significantly better than the 28-31% losses seen in the three major indices.
Data by YCharts
This volatility has been breathtaking, and the daily swings can be tough to take, and I will say that the extreme volatility has made writing this article tremendously difficult.
I write in my spare time and have been putting this article together over the course of the last six weeks, starting it when the market was still hitting new all-time highs. This is now the third different introduction I've written, going from one of wonder at how the market was hitting new highs and worry about extreme valuation in the sector, to one of cautious optimism, to today where we have legitimate fire-sale prices in the sector.
I'm hopeful that this final product proves helpful to those reading and gives some good investment prospects to those looking for... Read more