Summary Following my analysis of Wisconsin Energy, Southern Company and Avista, I decided to look at another possible growth prospect in the utilities sector. ITC offer superb growth opportunities together with great fundamentals and fair valuation. However, there are still several risk factors that must be taken into consideration, especially when we know it is a utility company. If you follow my last two articles, you will see that lately I am writing and debating with the readers about utility companies. I also wrote two articles about utilities back in March. The debate is whether one should look for a classic utility with high yield and low growth such as Southern Company (NYSE: SO ) or medium yield and medium growth like Wisconsin Energy (NYSE: WEC ). I must also note that I invest in Avista (NYSE: AVA ) as well, which also has medium yield and growth. I mentioned two out of the three types of dividend growth stocks. The third one is low yield and high growth. ITC Holdings (NYSE: ITC ) is a great example of such a company. I am going to analyze this company in this article, as I try to look for new investment opportunities. I found this stock while doing one of my routine screening, and I found out that it isn’t well known among dividend growth investors. ITC Holdings is a holding company. Through its regulated operating subsidiaries, International Transmission Company, Michigan Electric Transmission Company, ITC Midwest LLC and ITC Great Plains. It is engaged in the transmission of electricity in the U.S. It operates high-voltage systems in Michigan Lower Peninsula and portions of Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri and Kansas that transmit electricity from generating stations to local distribution facilities connected to its systems. Fundamentals The fundamentals shown by ITC are really remarkable. They are remarkable for any company, and especially for a utility company. The revenue rose steadily over the past decade. Ten years passed since the initial IPO of the company, and in these ten years the revenue grew from $200 million in 2005 to $1020 million in 2014. This is CAGR of 17.69%. This rate will not be sustained, but the revenue will keep growing in the next years to come at high single digits according to the management. ITC Revenue (Annual) data by YCharts EPS also grew in a very impressive manner, and it is going to grow quickly in the next years to come. Issuance of new shares slowed the EPS growth, but as you will see, it had very little effect. The EPS grew from $0.353 in 2005 to $1.54 in 2014. This is CAGR of 15.87%. This is again an amazing number especially for a utility. The company is forecasted to show EPS of over $2 in 2015. The company reiterates its five year plan, and is going to show double digits EPS growth until 2018. ITC EPS Diluted (Annual) data by YCharts The dividend also grew quickly over that decade. It grew at a slower pace than the EPS, so the payout ratio actually declined to around 36%. In addition, the company told investors in November that it might expand the payout up to 40% in the future. The dividend grew from $0.175 in 2005 to $0.61 in 2014. This is CAGR of 13.3% which is great. In 2015 the dividend was raised by additional 15%, and the management is willing to raise the annual payment by 10%-15% annually. The drawback is that the current yield is very low for a utility company at just 2.2%. ITC Dividend data by YCharts Over the past decade the amount of shares outstanding increased by around 50%. This is typical for companies that are growing, issuing equity is a common way to raise capital. However, in the last two years, 2014 and 2015, the board authorized a buyback plan of $250 million. The board is positive about the strength of the balance sheet and the cash from operations, and I believe it will issue another similar plan in 2016. $250 million is around 5% of the shares outstanding, pretty impressive. Valuation ITC is really fairly valued. The forward P/E is around 16. When taking into consideration the double digits growth rate, some might say that the valuation is low. The high growth rate is lowering the P/E for 2016 and 2017 significantly. If I have to determine, I find it valued fairly to slightly undervalued. ITC PE Ratio (NYSE: TTM ) data by YCharts The reasons for the lower valuation are the fact that ITC is a less known company with no buzz at all, and the fact that the dividend yield is extremely low for a utility company. If the company can achieve its dividend growth goals, it will be a great opportunity for long term investors. Opportunities ITC enjoys a high rate of revenue, EPS and dividend growth. This growth is achieved while the company is practically a monopoly in several states, as it possesses a very wide moat due to its massive infrastructure. If the company can grow that quickly while being a supervised monopoly, it has a pretty bright future. ITC will also enjoy the transformation on the American energy market. As power plants using coal are closed, and plants using naturals gas and renewable energy are opened, they will all need to transmit the electricity from the plants to their customers. The massive infrastructure owned by ITC will be ready to join forces with the power plants. In my previous article about Southern Company and Wisconsin Energy, I was told by several readers, that SO has an advantage over WEC, and it is the fact that it operates in the growing south and not in the Rust Belt. I am not sure that this is an advantage for the long term, as the economy is cyclical, but ITC for sure has nothing to worry about it. The company is well diversified, and it operates and in the Rust Belt as well as in the south. Geographical diversification is always a plus for a utility company which is usually locked in a certain area. Another advantage is the regulation. While the typical utility company is regulated by the states and the federal government, and therefore in a position where it can suffer from multiple state jurisdiction, ITC is solely regulated by the federal government, because it is an electric transmission company. In addition, the allowed return on equity is higher, which allows the company to charge more money for its service. According to S&P, the allowed ROE by the federal government is between 12.16%- 13.88%. Risks The first risk is competition. The competition can come from two places, other transmission companies especially from the west, and electric companies that can build their own infrastructure. The advantage of ITC is the fact that infrastructure requires a lot of capital. This is the wide moat that the company has, and the reason for this risk to be less relevant at current prices. The federal regulator received in 2013, a complaint asking for the reduction of the allowed ROE. A similar case in New England back in 2011 resulted in reduction of the allowed ROE two years later. This might harm the profitability. However, the request wasn’t fully granted, and I believe that the same will happen here as well. The low dividend is another downside. Yes, it can and should grow in the near future. The company believes that it can sustain substantial growth for the long run here. However, the profits depend on the regulators, and a change in the regulation might slow down the dividend growth, and we will have a utility stock that yields less than 2.5%, not something to brag about. The debt load is high, and is getting even higher. With the interest rates raising, it will be even more expensive. The company is using at the moment debt to finance its operation. The expects annual cash from operations to be around $650 million, while the annual capital investment is $800 million. Now, add the dividend and the buyback, and this small company must have access to credit at all time. The management is aware of that, and they know that their goal is to maintain the current credit rating- A. Conclusion Well, I can’t see myself buy ITC now, I prefer WEC and AVA over it. The growth is important and unique for a utility, but it will take years for it to reach a “utility yield”. It will need 5 years of superb growth to reach the yield of WEC, and 8 years of superb growth to reach the yield of SO. My preferred utility companies are the medium growth and medium yield like WEC and AVA. Therefore, I prefer these two over both SO and ITC. If you have several utilities and a very long investment horizon, you should consider adding ITC to your dividend growth portfolio. If you are a value investor, you might be buying it as well, as the growth prospects are here and valuation is fair. You can initiate a small position and enjoy the growth, it is an odd utility by yield and payout ratios as well as by growth, but it is also a great company, that isn’t necessarily right for my portfolio.