Can TransCanada Corporation Keep Up Its Rapid Growth Rate in the 3rd Quarter?

TransCanada (NYSE: TRP) has been growing at a blistering pace this year. In the first quarter, for example, comparable earnings spiked 16%, and distributable cash flow (DCF) rocketed 25%. Meanwhile, the company grew at an even faster pace last quarter, with DCF and earnings surging 33.3% and 33.7%, respectively. The primary fuel of those rapid growth rates was last July's acquisition of Columbia Pipeline Group.

That timing is worth noting because it means the Canadian pipeline giant will be going up against a tough comparable quarter, made even more challenging by the recent sale of some of its power and gas pipeline assets. Those factors will weigh on its third-quarter results, which it will report on Thursday morning. However, that doesn't mean the company's growth days are behind it.

For evidence of how much the Columbia deal moved the needle for TransCanada, we only need to see the earnings growth of its U.S. natural gas pipeline business in the second quarter:

Source: Fool.com