It's house-cleaning time for some of my favorite income stocks, but there are a couple formidable replacements for a handful that have run their best race for a while, writes Richard C. Young of Intelligence Report.
I am dropping Progress Energy (PGN), Alexander & Baldwin (ALEX), Entergy (ETR), and Exelon (EXC) from my Monster Master List and adding Southern Company (SO) and Clorox Company (CLX).
The merger between Duke Energy (DUK) and Progress Energy closed in early July. Alexander & Baldwin split into two companies—a real estate business and a transportation and logistics company. I am dropping both stocks from the Monster Master List for now, but may come back to one or both in the future.
Entergy and Exelon are two of my less-favored utility names. If you have significant capital gains in a taxable account, you can continue to hold both stocks, but I see more opportunity for you in Southern Company and Clorox.
Southern Company
The first of the two new additions is SO, the nation's second-largest utility. Southern Company serves 4.4 million customers with a power generation capacity of over 43,000 megawatts.
SO's regulated business is spread across Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, and the parent company produces electricity at 73 power plants located across the country. SO generates power from a variety of sources, with coal making up 52% of its capacity, followed by oil and gas at 30%, nuclear at 16%, and hydro at 2%.
Southern Company produced $17.7 billion in revenue in 2011, with $2.2 billion in net income. SO's shares yield 4.2%.
Clorox
The next addition is CLX. Clorox is dominant in its brand categories, with 90% of its brands ranking first or second in market share. The majority of Americans would undoubtedly find multiple Clorox brands in their homes today.
The lineup begins with Clorox itself, and includes other cleaning products like Formula 409, Green Works, Liquid-Plumr, Pine-Sol, S.O.S., and Tilex. Household brands include Glad, Kingsford, and cat litter brands Scoop Away, Fresh Step, and Premium Ever Clean.
Clorox's other brands include Brita, Burt's Bees, Hidden Valley, Kitchen Bouquet, and KC Masterpiece. Clorox also owns a stable of professional and international brands. The stock yields 3.5% today.
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