Some reasons to like the utility sector are related to the nature of the business. Electricity and gas are used by just about everyone every day. We heat our homes, cool our stores, cook food, build automobiles, light our streets, watch entertainment and run our computers using these important products and services. If the lights go out, we feel like we are in the dark ages. In other words, in good economies and markets, everyone will be buying the product.

A second good reason is income. Utilities offer income yields that can be attractive. Boring income doesn’t mean there is no growth. Some of my best growth stocks have been utilities. The utilities I currently own are ED, D, LNT, ES, NEE, OGE, WEC, XEL and AES. Of these, my largest are ES, NEE and XEL. All three of these are up over 100% since I bought them. You may not want to invest in individual utilities. Therefore, consider one of these ETFs: VPU or FUTY. Both have comparable diversification, dividend yield and expense ratios. VPU might be a better choice for dividend growth. Notice that both have similar top five holdings.

Created using Fidelity Active Trader Pro software.