PPL Stock Has Paid Quarterly Dividends for 300 Consecutive Quarters

 

PPL Stock Has Paid Quarterly Dividends for 300 Consecutive Quarters

 

The Great Recession and the coronavirus pandemic are two recent events that allowed the Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world to step in and unleash unprecedented fiscal and monetary policies.

 

Artificially lowering interest rates to essentially zero makes it cheap to borrow money and juice the economy—or at least that’s the premise. Helping fuel the economy comes at a cost though: low interest rates have decimated retirement portfolios.

 

The fact is, interest rates have been kept artificially low since 2008, which means the Fed has effectively removed the “income” from fixed-income assets like Treasuries, bonds, and certificates of deposit (CDs). That’s terrible news for anyone who was looking for their fixed-income investments to help see them through retirement.

 

In December 2020, the Fed maintained its target for the federal funds rate at a range of zero percent to 0.25%. Right now, the 10-year Treasury rate is just 1.15%. So if you have $1.0 million in your retirement savings account, you’ll earn a princely $15,000 annually. The average bank savings rate is even lower, at 0.9%.

 

With today’s rock-bottom interest rates pummeling portfolios, where are investors to turn? One of the best places for income-starved investors to look is utility stocks. That includes companies that provide electricity, natural gas, and water to residential, industrial, commercial, and government customers.

 

Money might be tight in an economic downturn, but people still need to heat their homes and keep their lights on. And with the pandemic, self-quarantined Americans are basking in the glow of their TVs and computer screens. And there’s no fear that the government will cut its spending on utilities.

 

 

Utility stocks might be boring, but because the rates the companies charge are either regulated or contractually guaranteed, they bring in steady revenue. Thanks to this reliable, low-risk income stream, utility stocks are able to pay out high dividends.

 

To investors, one of the best utility companies out there is PPL Corp (NYSE:PPL). Continue reading …