Utility stocks have traditionally been valued by many investors and advisors for their dividend yields and bond-like characteristics. But the performance of utility stocks may surprise you. Did you know that over the past 50 years, utilities have outperformed the S&P 500 Index with half the volatility?1 Or that over the last 15 months, as the S&P 500 and Bloomberg U.S. Intermediate Treasury Index each declined by more than 10%, utilities generated a positive total return of 5.1%?2 A new paper from the utility specialists at Reaves Asset Management on this often-overlooked sector — and its growth prospects — sheds some surprising light on utilities.