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Canadian investors are navigating investment options for a potentially explosive 2025. As the economy braces for a potential shock as the United States’s president-elect threatens to impose huge tariffs on trade partners, finding stocks that offer growth, reliable , and wealth preservation has become increasingly crucial. Enter ( ), a rare stock investment option that checks most boxes for investors. While high-flying tech stocks grab headlines, Fortis – an electric and gas utility stock serving millions of customers in Canada, the United States and Caribbean territories – has quietly built a 51-year track record of consecutive dividend increases, recently becoming only the second Canadian company to achieve the coveted status (behind ( ) stock). Its fresh 4.2% dividend raise in November brings the current yield to 4.1%, but here’s what makes Fortis stock truly compelling for 2025: For investors seeking the trifecta of steady income, capital preservation, and long-term growth potential, Fortis stock’s story is more than about the 4.1% future dividend yield. It demands more attention. A $26 billion growth plan powers Fortis stock’s future Fortis stock isn’t just about current income – it’s positioned for significant growth. The company’s newly announced 2025–2029 capital expenditure plan of $26 billion represents its most ambitious (and low-risk) expansion yet. This comprehensive revenue and earnings growth plan, which exceeds the previous five-year strategy by $1 billion, aims to grow the company’s rate base from $38.8 billion to approximately $53 billion by 2029, targeting a robust 6.5% annual growth rate. Revenue growth could translate into earnings, cash flow, and respectable dividend growth rates. How Fortis stock could double your money For investors seeking wealth accumulation, Fortis stock presents a compelling case. Using the predictive power of the , doubling your investment over a decade requires roughly 7.2% in annual total returns. Fortis stock’s current 4.1% dividend yield, combined with management’s targeted dividend growth rate of 4-6% through 2029, means investors need only modest share price appreciation to achieve this goal. Historical performance supports this potential – investors who purchased Fortis stock a decade ago and reinvested all dividends saw their position grow by 125%. data by Buy Fortis stock for stability in uncertain times What makes Fortis stock particularly valuable is its remarkable stability. With a one-year Beta of just 0.09 against the , Fortis stock has shown exceptionally low volatility compared to the broader market. As a regulated electric and gas utility serving millions of needy customers, Fortis provides essential services that generally remain in demand regardless of economic conditions. The growing energy demands of artificial intelligence (AI) and technological advancement provide additional tailwinds for Fortis stock’s growth trajectory. Interestingly, Fortis stock could help diversify volatile AI-tilted portfolios. Fortis stock’s attractive valuation and low-risk growth funding Currently trading at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 17.8, Fortis stock sits comfortably within its five-year historical PE range. This reasonable valuation, paired with the company’s proven track record of shareholder wealth creation, creates an appealing entry point for long-term investors. The company’s plans to fund its $26 billion capital expenditure primarily through internally generated cash flow, reduces the risk of excessive debt or equity dilution. Fortis’s dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP) provides an additional source of capital for future projects, and allows current investors to participate in its growth projects for even more dividends and capital gains. Fortis stock appears to be a well-positioned core-portfolio investment for 2025 and beyond. Investor takeaway For investors seeking a combination of current income, growth potential, and stability, Fortis stands out as a compelling choice. Its status as a dividend king, coupled with its robust growth plans and an essential business model, makes it a strong candidate for any growth and income-focused portfolios heading into 2025.None
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli troops stormed one of the last hospitals operating in northern Gaza on Friday, forcing many staff and patients outside to strip in winter weather , the territory’s health ministry said. The army denied claims it had entered or set fire to the complex and accused Hamas of using the facility for cover. Kamal Adwan Hospital has been hit multiple times over the past three months by Israeli troops waging an offensive against Hamas fighters in surrounding neighborhoods, according to staff. The ministry said a strike on the hospital a day earlier killed five medical staff. Israel's military said it was conducting operations against Hamas infrastructure and militants in the area and had ordered people out of the hospital, but said it had not entered the complex as of Friday night. It repeated claims that Hamas militants operate inside Kamal Adwan but provided no evidence. Hospital officials have denied that. The Health Ministry said troops forced medical personnel and patients to assemble in the yard and remove their clothes. Some were led to an unknown location, while some patients were sent to the nearby Indonesian Hospital, which was knocked out of operation after an Israel raid this week. Israeli troops during raids frequently carry out mass detentions, stripping men to their underwear for questioning in what the military says is a security measure as they search for Hamas fighters. The Associated Press doesn’t have access to Kamal Adwan, but armed plainclothes members of the Hamas-led police forces have been seen in other hospitals, maintaining security but also controlling access to parts of the facilities. The Health Ministry said Israeli troops also set fires in several parts of Kamal Adwan, including the lab and surgery department. It said 25 patients and 60 health workers remained in the hospital. The account could not be independently confirmed, and attempts to reach hospital staff were unsuccessful. “Fire is ablaze everywhere in the hospital,” an unidentified staff member said in an audio message posted on social media accounts of hospital director Hossam Abu Safiya. The staffer said some evacuated patients had been unhooked from oxygen. “There are currently patients who could die at any moment,” she said. Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, denied the accusations. “While IDF troops were not in the hospital, a small fire broke out in an empty building inside the hospital that is under control,” he said Friday night. He said a preliminary investigation found “no connection” between military activity and the fire. The Israeli military heavily restricts the movements of Palestinians in Gaza and has barred foreign journalists from entering the territory throughout the war, making it difficult to verify information. “These actions put the lives of all of these people in even more danger than what they faced before,” U.N. spokesperson Stephanie Tremblay told journalists, and noted colleagues' reports of “significant damage” to the hospital. It should be protected as international law requires, she added. Since October, Israel’s offensive has virtually sealed off the northern Gaza areas of Jabaliya, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya and leveled large parts of them. Tens of thousands of Palestinians were forced out but thousands are believed to remain in the area, where Kamal Adwan and two other hospitals are located. Troops raided Kamal Adwan in October, and on Tuesday troops stormed and evacuated the Indonesian Hospital. The area has been cut off from food and other aid for months , raising fears of famine . The United Nations says Israeli troops allowed just four humanitarian deliveries to the area from Dec. 1 to Dec. 23. The Israeli rights group Physicians for Human Rights-Israel this week petitioned Israel’s High Court of Justice, seeking a halt to military attacks on Kamal Adwan. It warned that forcibly evacuating the hospital would “abandon thousands of residents in northern Gaza.” Before the latest deaths Thursday, the group documented five other staffers killed by Israeli fire since October. Israel launched its campaign in Gaza vowing to destroy Hamas after the group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people and abducted some 250 others. Around 100 Israelis remain captive in Gaza, around a third believed to be dead. Israel’s nearly 15-month-old campaign of bombardment and offensives has devastated the territory’s health sector. A year ago, it carried out raids on hospitals in northern Gaza, including Kamal Adwan, Indonesian and al-Awda Hospital, saying they served as bases for Hamas, though it presented little evidence. Israel’s campaign has killed more than 45,400 Palestinians, more than half women and children, and wounded more than 108,000 others, according to the Health Ministry. Its count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. More than 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians have been driven from their homes, most now sheltering in sprawling tent camps in south and central Gaza. Children and adults, many barefoot, huddled Friday on the cold sand in tents whose plastic and cloth sheets whipped in the wind. Overnight temperatures can dip into the 40s Fahrenheit (below 10 Celsius), and sea spray from the Mediterranean can dampen tents just steps away. "I swear to God, their mother and I cover ourselves with one blanket and we cover (their five children) with three blankets that we got from neighbors. Sea waters drowned everything that was ours,” said Muhammad al-Sous, displaced from Beit Lahiya in the north. The children collect plastic bottles to make fires, and pile under the blankets when their only set of clothes is washed and dried in the wind. At least three babies in Gaza have died from exposure to cold in recent days , doctors there have said, and the Health Ministry said an adult — a nurse who worked at the European Hospital — also died this week. Khaled and Keath reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Narions contributed to this report.
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