Bell Aliant invests for growth

Article Excerpt

BELL ALIANT INC. $28.91 (Toronto symbol BA; Shares outstanding: 227.8 million; Market cap: $6.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 6.6%; www.aliant.ca) continues to invest heavily in fibre optic networks. It now has 963,048 high-speed Internet users (up 3.9% from a year earlier) and 189,781 digital TV customers (up 38.3%). However, lower demand for regular phone services cut Bell Aliant’s revenue by 1.2%, to $675.7 million, in the three months ended March 31, 2014, from $683.6 million a year earlier. Before one-time items, earnings declined 9.1%, to $0.40 a share from $0.44. Due to the cost of Bell Aliant’s network upgrades, its annual dividend of $1.90 a share (6.6% yield) accounts for over 100% of its cash flow, after capital expenditures. However, that payout ratio should drop to 75% to 85% after it finishes these projects by 2016. The stock trades at a high, but still reasonable, 18.1 times its forecast 2014 earnings of $1.60 a share. Bell Aliant is a buy. buy…