We made Telus Corp. our #1 Income Buy for 2025 due to its long history of rising dividend payments. It’s increased the payment twice a year since 2011. We expect the company will continue to reward shareholders as it has now completed a major upgrade of its 5G cellular and fibre-optic networks. The company’s management is also taking steps to cut its debt, which will free up even more cash for dividends. That adds confidence to its dividend growth program targeting 7-10% annual growth through 2025.
All in all, the company has demonstrated its ability to attract and retain customers while expanding its service offerings in healthcare and agriculture technology. This creates multiple avenues for revenue growth and diversification.
Meanwhile, the stock trades at 20.7 times the company’s forward earnings forecast.
TELUS CORP. (Toronto symbol T; www.telus.com) is Canada’s largest wireless carrier with 13.88 million subscribers (including non-cellphone devices such as tablets). It also sells landline phone, Internet and TV services in B.C., Alberta and eastern Quebec.
Telus has substantially completed its multi-year plan to upgrade wireless networks to handle 5G signals, which are much faster than current 4G (LTE) systems. It has also upgraded most of its copper-line networks to fibre-optic cable. The company expects those improvements will continue to help it attract new users.
Telus, through its Telus Health division, is now buying Workplace Options. That firm, based in North Carolina, helps businesses create and manage employee healthcare plans. It currently serves 113,000 clients in more than 200 countries and territories.
Telus will pay $350 million U.S. when it completes the transaction in the next few weeks. Private equity firm GTCR will also invest $200 million U.S. as part of the acquisition.
In the past few years, Telus has applied its telecom expertise to other businesses. Those include Telus Health, which helps clinics, pharmacies and hospitals manage electronic patient records. Another business, called Telus Agriculture and Consumer Goods, makes software to help farmers and food producers improve crop yields and manage supply chains.
Telus is now exploring a plan to unlock the value of its cellphone tower network. That would include selling roughly half of these assets to institutional investors such as pension funds.
A sale could raise about $1 billion for Telus, which it would apply to its long-term debt. Separately, Telus is also looking at selling $3 billion worth of surplus real estate to reduce its debt load.
Meanwhile, Telus is now building new computer datacentres—one in Kamloops, B.C. and another in Rimouski, Quebec—that will run artificial intelligence (AI) software using advanced chips from Nvidia Corp. (Nasdaq symbol NVDA). Note—Nvidia is a recommendation of Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter that covers U.S. stocks.
The company has not yet said how much these new facilities will cost. However, they should help it attract more clients, particularly as Canadian businesses are wary about storing their data on foreign platforms.
Telus has substantially completed its multi-year plan to upgrade wireless networks to handle 5G signals, which are much faster than current 4G (LTE) systems. It has also upgraded most of its copper-line networks to fibre-optic cable. The company expects those improvements will continue to help it attract new users.
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Blue Chip Stocks: Telus keeps rewarding its shareholders
In the quarter ended March 31, 2025, Telus added 20,000 new wireless phone subscribers as well as 148,000 users of other devices (net of cancellations). However, due to greater competition, the average monthly cellphone revenue per user declined 3.7% to $57.13.
Even so, the company’s revenue in the quarter rose 2.5%, to $5.06 billion from $4.93 billion a year earlier. That topped the consensus forecast of $4.98 billion.
However, earnings before unusual items declined 0.5%, to $388 million from $390 million. Per-share earnings were unchanged at $0.26, which topped the consensus estimate of $0.22.
Starting in 2011, Telus began rewarding its shareholders with twice yearly dividend increases. Under the current version of the plan, the company has committed to increasing the annual rate by between 7% and 10% from 2023 through the end of 2025.
The next increase will come with the July 2025 quarterly payment. Investors will then receive $0.4163 a share, up 3.5% from $0.4023. The new annual rate of $1.665 a share yields a high 7.3%.
Beyond this year, Telus plans to increase the annual rate by between 3% and 8% from 2026 through the end of 2028. Telus holds our Highest TSI Dividend Sustainability Rating.
In 2025, Telus will probably earn $1.07 a share, and the stock trades at a reasonable 20.7 times that estimate.
Telus is your #1 Income Buy for 2025.
Recommendation in The Successful Investor: Telus Corp. is a buy.
