bce

BCE INC. $45 (www.bce.ca) purchased The Source chain of 700 mall-based electronic stores in 2009. This ear, it plans to open 20 new outlets. These stores give BCE a low-risk way to promote its mobile phones and TV services. Best Buy.

TECK RESOURCES LTD., $33.11, Toronto symbol TCK.B, reported better-than-expected earnings for 2012. However, concerns over lower prices for coal, copper and other commodities caused the stock to fall 10% this week. In 2012, Teck’s earnings fell 38.5%, to $1.5 billion, or $2.60 a share. These figures exclude unusual items, such as gains on asset sales. On that basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $2.48 a share. In 2011, Teck earned a record $2.5 billion, or $4.18 a share. Revenue fell 10.2%, to $10.3 billion from $11.5 billion. The company met its production targets for all of its key commodities. However, the slow global economy hurt prices for its coal (down 24.9%), lead (down 13.8%), molybdenum (down 13.3%), silver (down 11.4%), zinc (down 11.1%), and copper (down 9.8%)....

ATCO LTD. $83 (www.atco.com) has raised its quarterly dividend by 14.5%, to $0.375 a share from 0.3275. The new annual rate of $1.50 yields 1.8%. The company has raised its dividend each year for the past 20 years. Moreover, at current rices, you can buy a share of ATCO for $83 and get roughly $86 worth of 52.8%-owned subsidiary Canadian Utilities (see below). This means you get ATCO’s other businesses, such as building temporary structures for mining firms, for free. Best Buy. CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD. $74 (www.canadianutilities.com) has raised its dividend every year since 1972. The new annual rate of $1.94 a share, up 9.6% from $1.77, yields 2.6%. Buy. BCE INC. $45 (www.bce.ca) purchased The Source chain of 700 mall-based electronic stores in 2009. This ear, it plans to open 20 new outlets. These stores give BCE a low-risk way to promote its mobile phones and TV services. Best Buy.

Most stock markets have risen lately. But as always, they remain subject to unexpected downturns. Even so, we feel the long-term outlook is for higher stock prices. One way to profit from rising markets is to add exchange traded funds (ETFs) that track major stock indexes to your portfolio. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. Prices are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You must pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell ETFs, but their low management fees still give them a cost advantage over most mutual funds....

Most stock markets have risen lately. But as always, they remain subject to unexpected downturns. Even so, the long-term outlook is for higher stock prices.

One way to profit from rising markets is to add exchange traded funds (ETFs) that track major stock indexes to your portfolio.

ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks....

BELL ALIANT INC. $27 (Toronto symbol BA; Shares outstanding: 227.8 million; Market cap: $6.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 7.0%; www.aliant.ca) sells telephone and Internet services to 2.5 million customers in Atlantic Canada and rural parts of Ontario and Quebec. The company also sells wireless services through an alliance with BCE, which owns 45% of Bell Aliant.

The company faces strong competition from cable providers. In addition, many of its phone customers are switching to wireless devices. However, Bell Aliant’s wireless agreement with BCE, plus upgrades to its high-speed Internet network, are helping it hold on to its current clients and attract new ones.

Bell Aliant’s high-speed fibre optic systems now reach 621,000 homes. The company plans to increase that to 650,000 by the end of 2012.

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Dividends often don’t get the respect they deserve, especially from beginning investors. That’s because a dividend stock’s yearly 3% or 5% yield may not seem impressive alongside yearly capital gains of 10%, 20% or 30% or more. Yet dividends are far more reliable than capital gains. So with today’s low interest rates, investors are paying more attention to dividend yields (a company’s total annual dividends paid per share divided by the current stock price). That’s why the high dividend yield of a company like Bell Aliant stands out....

BELL ALIANT INC. $27 (Toronto symbol BA; Shares outstanding: 227.8 million; Market cap: $6.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 7.0%; www.aliant.ca) sells telephone and Internet services to 2.5 million customers in Atlantic Canada and rural parts of Ontario and Quebec. The company also sells wireless services through an alliance with BCE, which owns 45% of Bell Aliant. The company faces strong competition from cable providers. In addition, many of its phone customers are switching to wireless devices. However, Bell Aliant’s wireless agreement with BCE, plus upgrades to its high-speed Internet network, are helping it hold on to its current clients and attract new ones. Bell Aliant’s high-speed fibre optic systems now reach 621,000 homes. The company plans to increase that to 650,000 by the end of 2012....

BCE INC. $41.99 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 774.6 million; Market cap: $32.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 5.4%; www.bce.ca) recently failed to win regulatory approval for its $3.4- billion deal to buy Astral Media (Toronto symbols ACM.A and ACM.B). Montreal-based Astral owns 22 TV stations, 84 radio stations and several pay TV and specialty channels, such as the Movie Network, Family Channel and Teletoon. It also owns billboards and sells other outdoor advertising in Quebec, Ontario and B.C. Regulators felt the purchase would give BCE an overwhelming share of Canada’s Englishlanguage TV broadcast market, which would hurt competition....

BCE INC., $42.15, Toronto symbol BCE, recently failed to win regulatory approval for its $3.4-billion deal to buy Astral Media (Toronto symbols ACM.A and ACM.B). Montreal-based Astral owns 22 TV stations, 84 radio stations and several pay TV and specialty channels, such as the Movie Network, Family Channel and Teletoon. It also owns billboards and sells other outdoor advertising in Quebec, Ontario and B.C. Regulators felt the purchase would give BCE an overwhelming share of Canada’s English-language TV broadcast market, which would hurt competition....