BCE Inc.
Toronto symbol BCE, provides local and long distance telephone services in Ontario and Quebec. It also operates a nationwide wireless service.
BCE operates in a competitive, fast-changing market, but this top telecom continues to adapt and grow. For example, its Fibe Internet TV service is attracting more users, and the company recently expanded its media segment with its purchase of Astral Media. These moves bode well for BCE’s profits, dividends—and share price. BCE INC. $48.28 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 777.3 million; Market cap: $37.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 5.1%; www.bce.ca) is Canada’s largest provider of telephone, Internet and wireless services. It also offers satellite and Internet TV across the country. In the three months ended March 31, 2014, BCE’s earnings per share rose 5.2%, to $0.81 from $0.77 a year earlier. Revenue increased 4.4%, to $4.54 billion from $4.35 billion....
Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are set up to mirror the performance of a stock market index or sub-index. They hold a more or less fixed selection of securities that represent the holdings that go into the calculation of the index or sub-index. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. That’s different from mutual funds, which you can only buy at the end of the day, at a price that reflects the fund’s value at the close of trading. Prices of ETFs are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell them, but their low management fees give them a cost advantage over most mutual funds....
Ottawa continues to impose new rules on Canada’s main wireless firms in an effort to encourage more competition. These measures include restricting the new radio frequencies (or spectrum) they can buy, cutting wireless contract terms from three years to two and capping roaming charges. Meanwhile, new rules will force TV providers to let subscribers buy the channels they want, instead of having to purchase a package....
MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. $31 (Toronto symbol MBT; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 77.1 million; Market cap: $2.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 5.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mts.ca) gets around 55% of its revenue from its 1.3 million telephone and wireless customers in Manitoba.
The remaining 45% comes from Allstream, which sells integrated telephone, Internet and other communication services to businesses across Canada.
The company has suffered a couple of setbacks in the past few months. The first came late last year, when Ottawa blocked its plan to sell Allstream for $405 million to a private firm controlled by an Egyptian billionaire.
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The remaining 45% comes from Allstream, which sells integrated telephone, Internet and other communication services to businesses across Canada.
The company has suffered a couple of setbacks in the past few months. The first came late last year, when Ottawa blocked its plan to sell Allstream for $405 million to a private firm controlled by an Egyptian billionaire.
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p>BCE INC. $49 (Toronto symbol BCE; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 777.3 million; Market cap: $38.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 5.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bce.ca) is Canada’s largest provider of telephone services, with 5.1 million customers in Ontario and Quebec. It also has 2.2 million high-speed Internet customers and 2.3 million TV subscribers. Together, these services supply 47% of the company’s revenue. BCE also sells wireless services across Canada. Its 7.8 million mobile subscribers provide 28% of its revenue.
A further 13% of revenue comes from its Bell Media division, which owns CTV Television, specialty channels and radio stations. It gets the remaining 12% from its 44% stake in Bell Aliant.
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A further 13% of revenue comes from its Bell Media division, which owns CTV Television, specialty channels and radio stations. It gets the remaining 12% from its 44% stake in Bell Aliant.
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Ottawa continues to impose new rules on Canada’s main wireless firms in an effort to encourage more competition. These measures include restricting the new radio frequencies (or spectrum) they can buy, cutting wireless contract terms from three years to two and capping roaming charges.
Meanwhile, new rules will force TV providers to let subscribers buy the channels they want, instead of having to purchase a package.
We feel these leading telecoms will adapt to the changes and keep increasing their earnings and dividends....
Meanwhile, new rules will force TV providers to let subscribers buy the channels they want, instead of having to purchase a package.
We feel these leading telecoms will adapt to the changes and keep increasing their earnings and dividends....
BMO S&P/TSX Laddered Preferred Share Index ETF, $14.48, symbol ZPR on Toronto (Units outstanding: 70.1 million; Market cap: $1.0 billion; www.etfs.bmo.com), holds Canadian floating-rate preferred shares. Issuers include Bank of Montreal, Enbridge, BCE, TransCanada and Canadian Utilities. The ETF’s MER is 0.45%. It currently yields 4.3%. Note that the dividends you receive from this fund do benefit from the Canadian dividend tax credit. Floating-rate preferred shares pay dividends that fluctuate with changes in interest rates. The dividend rate may range from 50% to 100% of (usually) the prime bank rate. As interest rates rise, so do floating-preferred dividend yields....
BCE INC. $48.01 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 777.0 million;Market cap: $37.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 5.2%; www.bce.ca) reports that in the three months ended December 31, 2013, its earnings per share rose 16.7%, to $0.70 from $0.60 a year earlier. Revenue increased 4.3%, to $5.4 billion from $5.2 billion.
BCE added 93,700 new wireless subscribers, net of cancellations, in the latest quarter (it now has 7.8 million users across Canada). That’s 10.8% fewer than it added a year earlier, but 73% of its subscribers under long-term contracts now use smartphones, up from 62%. That’s good news, because smartphones generate higher fees for BCE than regular cellphones. Average revenue per user rose 2.1%.
BCE has just raised its quarterly dividend by 6.0%, to $0.6175 a share from $0.5825. The shares now yield 5.2%. As well, the stock trades at 15.1 times this year’s forecast earnings.
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BCE added 93,700 new wireless subscribers, net of cancellations, in the latest quarter (it now has 7.8 million users across Canada). That’s 10.8% fewer than it added a year earlier, but 73% of its subscribers under long-term contracts now use smartphones, up from 62%. That’s good news, because smartphones generate higher fees for BCE than regular cellphones. Average revenue per user rose 2.1%.
BCE has just raised its quarterly dividend by 6.0%, to $0.6175 a share from $0.5825. The shares now yield 5.2%. As well, the stock trades at 15.1 times this year’s forecast earnings.
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BCE INC. $48.01 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 777.0 million;Market cap: $37.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 5.2%; www.bce.ca) reports that in the three months ended December 31, 2013, its earnings per share rose 16.7%, to $0.70 from $0.60 a year earlier....
BELL ALIANT INC. $26.87 (Toronto symbol BA; Shares outstanding: 227.8 million; Market cap: $6.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 7.1%; www.aliant.ca) sells phone and Internet services to 2.5 million customers in Atlantic Canada and rural Ontario and Quebec. It also provides wireless services through an alliance with BCE, which owns 45% of Bell Aliant.
The company continues to replace copper wires with fibre optic cable, which is attracting more high-speed Internet and digital TV customers. Strong demand for these services is also helping offset lower revenue from traditional phones, which still supply 52% of Bell Aliant’s revenue.
The company’s high-speed fibre optic systems now reach 806,000 homes, up from 725,000 at the start of last year. By the end of 2014, it plans to expand its network to one million homes.
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The company continues to replace copper wires with fibre optic cable, which is attracting more high-speed Internet and digital TV customers. Strong demand for these services is also helping offset lower revenue from traditional phones, which still supply 52% of Bell Aliant’s revenue.
The company’s high-speed fibre optic systems now reach 806,000 homes, up from 725,000 at the start of last year. By the end of 2014, it plans to expand its network to one million homes.
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