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Topic: Dividend Stocks

MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. $29 – Toronto symbol MBT

< p> MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. $29 (Toronto symbol MBT; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 78.9 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 4.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mtsallstream.com) gets 60% of its revenue from its MTS division, which has 1.3 million telephone, wireless and TV customers in Manitoba.

< p>The other 40% comes from Allstream, which sells phone and Internet services to businesses across Canada.

< p>As part of a plan to make Allstream more profitable, Manitoba Telecom aims to cut 25% of the subsidiary’s workforce and reduce its capital spending by 20% to 30%. These moves should save $50 million annually by the end of 2016 and make it easier for Manitoba Telecom to sell this business.

< p>The company earned just $10.4 million, or $0.13 a share, in the three months ended June 30, 2015. If you exclude severance costs and other unusual items, it earned $0.31 a share, but that’s still down from $28.8 million, or $0.37 a share, a year earlier. Overall revenue fell 1.2%, to $398.3 million from $403.3 million.

< p>The MTS division’s revenue rose 0.2%, as higher sales from wireless and high-speed Internet access offset lower demand for traditional phone services. Allstream’s revenue fell 4.4%, as it continues to phase out its older networks and expand its high-speed Internet service.

< p>Manitoba Telecom recently cut its dividend by 23.5%; the new annual rate of $1.30 a share yields 4.5%. In the latest quarter, dividends accounted for a more moderate 50.9% of its free cash flow (cash flow less capital expenditures), down from 72.0% a year earlier.

< p>The stock trades at 26.6 times the $1.09 a share Manitoba Telecom will probably earn in 2015. That’s a high p/e ratio in light of its reliance on Manitoba and potential difficulty finding a suitable buyer for Allstream. In 2013, Ottawa blocked a deal to sell this business to an Egyptian billionaire.

< p>Manitoba Telecom is still a hold.

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