NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE), Chevron Corporation (CVX), Mastercard Inc (MA): The Basic Needs Portfolio

Also not to be overlooked, water utility American Water Works Co., Inc. (NYSE:AWK) announced an increase to its revolving credit limit of $250 million to $1.25 billion while also pushing $1.1 billion of existing debt due in October 2017 out an additional 12 months. The move makes sense given the historically low lending rates we’re seeing right now. It’s even more important if you consider that the water utility business sees most of its growth through synergies from acquisitions, so expanding American Water Works Co., Inc. (NYSE:AWK)’ available credit looks like a smart strategic move.

Back to basics

Despite the S&P 500 having a very good week, this portfolio of conservative and basic needs stocks managed to outperform it, albeit marginally, by 0.1%. So far this portfolio is doing everything expected of it; it’s producing substantial dividend income and it’s not causing us to lose sleep overnight with wild vacillations. Over the next three years I expect the combination of dividend income and projected outperformance in both boom and bust economies to drive a substantial outperformance over the S&P 500.

Check back next week for the latest update on this portfolio and its 10 components.

The article The Basic Needs Portfolio originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Sean Williams.

Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.The Motley Fool recommends Chevron, Ford, Intel, MasterCard, Procter & Gamble, and Waste Management. The Motley Fool owns shares of, and recommends, Ford, Intel, MasterCard, and Waste Management. It also owns shares of Transocean and recommends Chevron and Procter & Gamble. 

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