Mario JohnsonEquity Research & Valuation
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Emera Incorporated

TSX: EMA · Regulated Utilities · Canada & US
Initiation Published August 13, 2026 By Mario Johnson
PriceC$70.48
Fair valueC$62.82
Implied downside-11%
Market capC$21.1B
Thesis in brief

A large, high-quality regulated utility priced for its defensiveness rather than its cash flows. Emera owns rate-regulated electric and gas utilities in Florida, Nova Scotia, and the US Southwest, and grows a dependable dividend that income investors prize. On a discounted cash flow at a 6.6% cost of capital, fair value is about C$62.82 against a price near C$70.48, roughly 11% of downside. The business is not in question. The price is, and at today's multiple the market is paying a premium a slow-growing, heavily levered utility does not quite earn.

I.

The business

Emera is a Halifax-based energy holding company whose earnings come almost entirely from rate-regulated electric and gas utilities, the largest being Tampa Electric and Peoples Gas in Florida, alongside Nova Scotia Power and gas utilities in the US Southwest. Regulated utilities earn an allowed return on a growing rate base, which makes the cash flows stable and bond-like but tie growth to capital spending and rate-case outcomes. It is a roughly C$21B company on about C$8.8B of revenue (FY25), carrying close to C$23B of debt and preferred. The detail is in the thesis.

II.

Why the stock looks expensive

  1. A modest but real discount to fair value. At a 6.6% weighted-average cost of capital, fair value is about C$62.82 versus a price near C$70.48, roughly 11% downside. This is a rich-but-not-egregious premium, the kind that a defensive name can hold for a long time.
  2. The market is paying for the dividend. Emera yields around 4% and raises the payout every year, which income buyers reward with a premium multiple. The DCF values the cash flows those dividends come from, and at this price the two do not quite reconcile.
  3. Leverage and rates matter here. Debt and preferred are close to half the capital structure, so the value is sensitive to interest rates and to the outcome of rate cases in Florida and Nova Scotia. A defensive utility is not a riskless one.
Go deeper

The full thesis, with the model.

Read the full thesis → Download the model (.xlsx)

Published for informational and educational purposes only. Not investment advice, nor an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security. Views are the author's own as of the date shown and may change without notice. The author may hold positions in securities discussed. Do your own research.