Traditionally electric utility stocks have offered stable growth and high dividend yields. Though they are boring to own they are usually preferred by income seeking investors such as retirees and others. Electric utilities are highly regulated in many states in the U.S. Despite the tough regulatory conditions electric companies are a monopoly in the areas they operate and are granted rate increases by regulators on a regular basis helping them generate higher profits.

Power company stocks that are traded on the NYSE are shown below:

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This week FirstEnergy announced to buy competitor Allegheny Energy for in $4.7B stock paying a 32% premium based on Wednesday’s closing price.The combined company would have six million customers in the seven states of Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Total annual revenues of the merged company is projected to be $16B.More consolidation may happen in the industry as companies try to maximize efficiency and gab market share. FPL Group, Inc.(FPL) is a high quality dividend stock that has performed consistently over many year. The current yield is 4.15%. Among the ADRs,  CPFL Energia (CPL) of Brazil pays a 6.36% dividend.