BELL ALIANT INC. $27 - Toronto symbol BA

BELL ALIANT INC. $27 (Toronto symbol BA, Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 229.1 million; Market cap: $6.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 7.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.bellaliant.ca) sells phone and Internet services to 2.4 million customers in Atlantic Canada and rural Ontario and Quebec.

Like BCE, the company continues to replace copper wires with fibre optic cable. It now has 944,914 high-speed Internet users (up 3.4% from a year earlier) and 163,264 digital TV customers (up 52.0%).

In the three months ended September 30, 2013, Bell Aliant’s revenue fell 0.4%, to $694.9 million from $697.4 million a year earlier. Before one-time items, earnings fell 6.7%, to $0.42 a share from $0.45. However, cash flow (after capital expenditures) jumped 28.0%, to $0.64 a share from $0.50.

The stock trades at 16.9 times the company’s likely 2013 earnings of $1.60 a share. The $1.90 dividend still seems safe, and yields 7.0%.

It’s possible that BCE will buy the 56% of Bell Aliant that it does not already own. That’s not reason enough to buy the stock, but it does add to its appeal.

Bell Aliant is a buy.

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