Wireless gains spur dividend hike

Article Excerpt

TELUS CORP. $42 (Toronto symbol T; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 612.0 million; Market cap: $25.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 3.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.telus.com) added 113,000 new wireless subscribers, net of cancellations, in the three months ended September 30, 2014, up 8.7% from a year earlier. It now has 8.0 million wireless subscribers. In addition, it continues to attract high-speed Internet and digital TV users. As a result, its revenue rose 5.4%, to $3.0 billion from $2.9 billion. Earnings gained 6.0%, to $387 million from $365 million. Telus spent $164 million on share buybacks in the latest quarter, so its per-share earnings rose 10.3%, to $0.64 from $0.58. The company also raised its quarterly dividend by 11.1%, to $0.40 a share from $0.36. The new annual rate of $1.60 yields 3.8%. This was the eighth hike since May 2011. Telus is a buy. buy…