BCE Inc.

BCE INC. $57.77 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 865.4 million; Market cap: $50.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.7%; www.bce.ca) continues to benefit from strong demand for its wireless, high-speed Internet and Fibe TV services. That’s offsetting weaker revenue from traditional telephone services. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, the company’s revenue rose 1.4%, to $5.60 billion from $5.53 billion. Per-share profits were unchanged at $0.72. During the quarter, the company added 91,308 wireless subscribers under long-term contracts. That’s down from 118,120 a year earlier, mainly due to strong competition over the winter holiday. However, smartphone users now account for 78% of these customers, up from 76% a year earlier. That’s good news, as smartphones generate higher monthly fees than regular cellphones....

BCE INC. $58 (Toronto symbol BCE; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 865.6 million; Market cap: $49.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.3; Dividend yield: 4.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bce.ca) is Canada’s largest telephone provider, with 6.7 million customers in Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. It also has 3.4 million high-speed Internet users and 2.7 million TV subscribers. In all, these operations supplied 56% of BCE’s revenue in 2015. The company also sells wireless services (32% of revenue) to 8.25 million cellphone users across Canada. The remaining 12% of BCE’s revenue comes from its Bell Media division, which owns CTV Television (30 stations), 34 specialty channels (including TSN, Discovery, Comedy and Space), pay TV services (including the Movie Network and HBO Canada) and 106 radio stations....

MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. $32 (Toronto symbol MBT; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 79.3 million; Market cap: $2.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield: 4.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mts.ca) recently completed the sale of its Allstream division to U.S.-based Zayo Group Holdings (New York symbol ZAYO). Prior to the deal, Allstream, which offers telephone, Internet and other communication services to businesses across Canada, supplied 40% of Manitoba Telecom’s revenue. The remaining 60% came from its MTS division, which has 1.3 million telephone and wireless customers in Manitoba. Manitoba Telecom received $420.0 million, net of transaction costs, for Allstream. The company will use $200.0 million to buy back roughly 8% of its outstanding shares. It will put a further $190.0 million to its total debt of $1.1 billion, which is equal to 44% of its market cap. The company will hang on to the remaining $30.0 million for now....

BCE has outperformed the market during the current downturn: the stock has gained 7.9% since the start of 2016, compared to a 6.3% decline in the S&P/TSX Composite Index. The company continues to benefit from upgrades to its wireless and fibre-optic Internet and TV networks. These improvements have helped it attract new customers, and hang on to existing ones. More-reliable networks will also help BCE handle new competitors. That includes cable company Shaw Communications, which is buying wireless carrier Wind Mobile. The stock is trading just below its recent peak of $59 in October 2015. Even so, it’s still attractive in relation to BCE’s projected earnings. The company’s strong prospects give it plenty of room to keep raising its dividend....

In addition to BCE (see page 21), we also like these two other leading telcos. Both Telus and Manitoba Telecom are doing a good job attracting new customers, and hanging on to their current subscribers. Recent cost-cutting plans should also give them more cash to improve their networks and increase their dividends. TELUS CORP. $40 (Toronto symbol T; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 599.9 million; Market cap: $24.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 4.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.telus.com) is Canada’s second-largest wireless telephone service provider, after Rogers Communications, with 8.5 million subscribers. Wireless now supplies 56% of Telus’s revenue and 66% of its earnings. The remaining 44% of revenue and 34% of earnings come from its wireline division, which serves 1.5 million residential phone customers in B.C., Alberta and eastern Quebec. This business also has 1.6 million high-speed Internet users and 1.0 million TV clients....

BCE INC., $58.16, Toronto symbol BCE, continues to benefit from strong demand for its wireless, high-speed Internet and Fibe TV services. That’s offsetting weaker revenue from traditional telephone services. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, the company’s earnings rose 0.8%, to $615 million from $610 million a year earlier. Per-share profits were unchanged at $0.72 on more shares outstanding. These figures exclude unusual items, such as costs related to acquisitions and early debt repayments. On that basis, the latest earnings matched the consensus estimate....

ISHARES CANADIAN SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX ETF $20.37 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) holds 30 of the highestyielding Canadian stocks. Its selections are based on dividend growth, yield and payout ratio. The weight of any one stock is limited to 10% of the ETF’s assets. The fund’s MER is 0.55%, and it yields 5.0%. Its top holdings are CIBC, 9.7%; Bank of Montreal, 7.4%; Royal Bank, 6.8%; BCE, 6.5%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.6%; Rogers Communications, 5.2%; Laurentian Bank of Canada, 5.0%; Manitoba Telecom, 5.0%; TD Bank, 4.7%; IGM Financial, 4.4%; and TransCanada Corp., 4.4%. The ETF holds 58.6% of its assets in financial stocks. The top Canadian finance stocks have sound prospects, but if you invest in this ETF, be sure to adjust the rest of your portfolio so it won’t be overly concentrated in the financial sector....

ISHARES S&P/TSX 60 INDEX ETF $18.65 (Toronto symbol XIU; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) is a good low-fee way to buy the top stocks on the TSX. The units are made up of stocks that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index, which consists of the 60 largest, most heavily traded stocks on the exchange. The ETF’s MER is just 0.18% of assets, and the units yield 3.2%. The index mostly consists of high-quality companies. However, it must ensure that all sectors are represented, so it holds a few we wouldn’t include. The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 8.7%; TD Bank, 8.0%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.6%; CN Railway, 4.8%; BCE, 4.0%; Bank of Montreal, 3.9%; Suncor Energy, 3.8%; Valeant Pharmaceuticals, 3.5%; Enbridge Inc., 3.3%; and Manulife Financial Corp., 3.1%....

We feel that investors will profit the most by holding a well-balanced portfolio of high-quality stocks. However, if you don’t want to build a portfolio, or you want to supplement your individual stock holdings, then ETFs can provide a great alternative. The main factors we use to evaluate ETFs are the stocks they hold, the diversification of their holdings across the five economic sectors and the fees (MERs) they charge. In general, investors holding mainly ETFs would want, say, 60% in Canadian ETFs and 20% to 30% in U.S. ETFs....

BCE INC. $56.74 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 849.3 million; Market cap: $48.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.6%; www.bce.ca) has formed a new partnership with U.S.-based iHeartRadio, which streams live radio stations and other audio broadcasts over the Internet. iHeartRadio has more than 75 million users in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. BCE plans to use iHeartRadio’s technology to launch a free-to-use, advertising-supported streaming service in Canada in mid-2016. This service will also feature BCE’s 106 radio stations, as well as other content from its TV channels. BCE is a buy....