 Are you looking for a wild ride or are you looking for consistent income? For a de-risked portfolio and solid dividends, utilities stocks are a time-tested favorite investment option.Along with the dividends, utilities stocks are considered relatively safe because they provide power to homes and businesses. This is considered a necessity that never goes out of style. 7 Sluggish Stocks Hit Hard by Coronavirus This Earnings Season Its a sound policy to stick to the best companies in any sector. When it comes to utilities companies, five names are well-regarded and have a long history:InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice Trading Tips Duke Energy NYSE:DUK Southern NYSE:SO Dominion Energy NYSE:D Consolidated Edison NYSE:ED Excelon NASDAQ:EXCFeel free to explore these utilities stocks and see if they deserve a place among your low-volatility holdings. Utilities Stocks to Buy: Duke Energy DUKSource: jadimages Shutterstock.com Like just about every company in the United States, Duke Energy is dealing with the Covid-19 crisis. This particular company seems to be taking the situation in stride, however.Consider Dukes first-quarter net income, which came out to 899 million. Thats just about exactly in line with the same quarter of the previous year, when Dukes net income was 900 million. Meanwhile, this years first-quarter revenue totaled 5.95 billion, which is not too far below the 6.16 billion reported in the first quarter of the prior year.So, while there is some pressure being felt during the pandemic, its not too severe. For the time being, DUK stockholders can ride out the crisis with a decent 4.54 forward annual dividend yield. Southern SOSource: Shutterstock Critical infrastructure businesses like ours never take a day off, observed Thomas A. Fanning, the president and CEO of utilities giant Southern. Fannings 100 right about that as Southern is an essential utilities provider for around 8 million customers.Southern remains in good fiscal health, as well. For 2020s first quarter, the company posted adjusted earnings per share of 78 cents. Thats an eight-cent year-over-year increase as well as 6 cents greater than the companys estimate. 10 Best High-Growth Stocks to Buy for Young Investors SO stock is a safe bet since it has such a massive presence and is crucial to peoples standard of living. Its also a dividend achiever with a forward annual yield of 4.78. All in all, this pick deserves to be on anyones top utilities stocks list. Dominion Energy DSource: Riccardo Annandale Via UnsplashIf you said that D stock is recession-proof, youd by exaggerating but only slightly. The shares have held up fairly well during the novel coronavirus crisis. Besides, the 4.77 forward annual dividend yield is a strong incentive to hold the stock.Fiscally, Dominion Energy has held up reasonably well despite the pandemic. For the first quarter of this year, Dominion reported total revenues of 4.5 billion. Thats actually a marked improvement over the revenues of 3.9 billion Dominion generated in the year-ago quarter.With over 7 million customers across 20 U.S. states relying on Dominion for their energy needs, this companys a mainstay in the utilities sector and D stock is a highly reliable income generator. Consolidated Edison EDSource: Shutterstock Like to invest in companies that have been around for a while? If so, take a look at Consolidated Edison, which was founded way back in 1884. If you happen to reside in New York or New Jersey, theres a fair chance that your electricity service is provided by this esteemed company.Has Con Ed been able to weather the Covid storm? The answer would be yes as the companys adjusted earnings for the first quarter totaled 451 million. Thats 1.35 per share and it beats the 448 million, or 1.39 per share, generated during the same quarter of last year. Missing copy for url 1. Please edit. Url 1 is an external link. Please edit.Plus, ED stock features a trailing 12-month price-to-earnings ratio of 18.15 and a forward annual dividend yield of 4.32. Those are nice stats and this stock should perform well even in these challenging times. Excelon EXCSource: Shutterstock This ones a little bit different from the other utilities-sector stocks on this list. Excelon is a relative newcomer, having been incorporated in 1999. Plus, EXC stock is the only name on this list thats traded on the Nasdaq.So, it could be argued that Excelon is a more modern utilities company. Its true strength, however, is that its diversified with fossil, nuclear, hydroelectric, wind and solar segments.With 87 cents per share in operating earnings for 2020s first quarter, Excelon remains on par with its results from the same quarter of last year. Additionally, a trailing 12-month price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79 and a forward annual dividend yield of 4.17 indicate a compelling value with EXC stock.David Moadel has provided compelling content - and crossed the occasional line - on behalf of Crush the Street, Market Realist, TalkMarkets, Finom Group, Benzinga, and of course InvestorPlace.com. He also serves as the chief analyst and market researcher for Portfolio Wealth Global and hosts the popular financial YouTube channel Looking at the Markets. As of this writing, David Moadel did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000 Winner Americas Richest ZIP Code Holds Shocking Secret 1 Under-the-Radar 5G Stock to Buy Now The 1 Stock All Retirees Must Own The post 5 Utilities Stocks That Will Help Pay the Bills appeared first on InvestorPlace. 