widow-and-orphan stock

widow-and-orphan stock definition - finance
Very safe, conservative stock that pays a high dividend. Historically, utility companies were considered widow-and-orphan stocks. However, since the electricity market deregulated in the mid-1990s and utilities began trading electricity capacity, those companies arenÂ’t necessarily safe any longer.

Webster's New World Finance and Investment Dictionary Copyright © 2003 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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