If you’re an income investor in search of strong, stable dividend yields, there’s a lot to love about electric utilities. And sector stalwarts such as Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED), Exelon (NYSE:EXC), CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP), Progress Energy (NYSE:PGN) and Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) are offering a sort of gift-with-purchase deal right now — ex-dividend dates during Valentine’s Week.

Ex-dividend dates are important for investors because they determine whether you or the stock’s seller receives the most recently declared dividend. Let’s say a stock has an ex-dividend date of Valentine’s Day. If you buy that stock and settle on Feb. 14 or later, you don’t receive the declared dividend — the seller does. But if you buy that stock on Feb. 13, the declared dividend is paid to you

Source: InvestorPlace

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