Hi there,
Atco is in fact the parent company to Canadian Utilities. They are both among the best dividend growth stocks in the coutry and have the longest (CU) and third longest (ACO) on the TSX Index. You can count on them for reliable income. Boring is an appropriate word to describe them.
One of the issues with both companies is declining earnings growth. They have experience a few years of declining growth and this has led to share price stagnation. When compared against their peers, they have the lowest growth rates among all TSX-listed utilities. While estimates are going upwards, they still have a ways to go to return to meaningful growth. Atco is only expected to average 1.5% EPS growth over the next two years.
Worth noting, slowing earnings growth as led to slowing dividend growth. Overall, I find them to be the least attractive utilities on the index. That being said, they are the cheapest and if they can turn things around, they would be an excellent value play. It has however, been years waiting for a turnaround.
So bottom line - they are cheap, provide excellent income but little growth.
Mat