To The Moon

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Two clouds have loomed over the heads of US stock investors recently: a possible economic recession and a US regional banking crisis.

Affected by this, the market's risk appetite has declined. In the past month, the three major traditional safe-haven sectors of consumer, medical and public utilities have become the best performing sectors in the $S&P 500(.SPX)$ Index.

Any scientific and reasonable investment portfolio should allocate some of these more stable sectors to some extent. The reason is simple, no matter what the economic situation is, we need toothpaste and food, doctors and medicines, and water and electricity.

"Utilities stocks will remain a good safe haven against a backdrop of slower economic growth and broad-based corporate earnings declines," said Todd Shaffer, research manager at VectorVest.

In times of market turmoil, here are 8 utility stocks that can provide you with stability and dividend income.

1. $Black Hills(BKH)$

Monthly Chart

This utility stock has relatively low debt-to-capitalization and price-to-earnings ratios and is trading in the lower half of its 52-week range. The company has raised its dividend for 52 consecutive years, has a forward yield of 3.8%, and has an A+ dividend safety rating from Dividend.com.

2.$Spire(SR)$

Monthly Chart

The natural gas utility remains confident in its long-term ability to grow profitably, thanks to a capital investment plan (including $700 million in FY 2023). The company has raised its dividend for 19 consecutive years, yields 4.2%, and has an A+ dividend safety rating from Dividend.com.

3. $UGI Corp(UGI)$

Monthly Chart

This energy distribution and services stock has fallen recently, possibly due to high natural gas prices and rising interest rates, but the negatives are already priced in. The company has raised its dividend for 36 consecutive years. The dividend yield is 5%, which is higher than the average of 3.75% in the utility sector. Dividend.com's dividend safety rating is A+.

4. $Evergy, Inc.(EVRG)$

Monthly Chart

The utility to invest $2.2 billion in electric infrastructure projects in 2022. The company has raised its dividend for 19 consecutive years, yields 3.9%, and has an A+ dividend safety rating from Dividend.com.

5.$Idacorp(IDA)$

Monthly Chart

This electric utility stock has solid earnings and sales growth, and its earnings yield outpaces its dividend yield and growth rate. The stock is on an uptrend thanks to strong company fundamentals. The company has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years, and its dividend yield is 2.9%.

6. $Ameren(AEE)$

Monthly Chart

The electric and gas utility won approval for a 150 MW solar facility in Illinois in April, as well as 200 MW of solar capacity in Missouri earlier this year. The company has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years and has a forward dividend yield of 2.8%.

7.$Atmos(ATO)$

In the first quarter, the largest U.S. natural gas distributor raised the lower end of its fiscal 2023 earnings per share guidance range from $5.90 to $6, with the upper end unchanged at $6.10. Additionally, the dividend per share for the fiscal year was $2.96, an 8.8% increase from the prior fiscal year. The company has raised its dividend for 39 consecutive years, yields 2.5%, and has an A+ dividend safety rating from Dividend.com.

8. $MGE Energy Inc(MGEE)$

The gas and electric services company recently won approval to acquire 30 MW of solar and 16.5 MW of battery storage. The company has raised its dividend for 47 consecutive years, yields 2.1%, and has an A+ dividend safety rating from Dividend.com.