bce

We think investors will profit most — and with the least risk — by buying shares of well-established, dividend-paying stocks with strong business prospects. These are companies that have strong positions in healthy industries. They also have strong management that will make the right moves to remain competitive in a changing marketplace. Here are 3 ways dividend paying stocks can help improve your portfolio’s long-term returns:...

BELL ALIANT REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS INCOME FUND $25 (Toronto symbol BA.UN; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 228.4 million; Market cap: $5.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 11.6%; SI Rating: Above Average) provides telephone services in Atlantic Canada, as well as rural parts of Ontario and Quebec. As part of the deal that created the trust in 2006, Bell Aliant transferred its wireless operations to BCE, which owns 45% of the trust. Bell Aliant earned $373.0 million in 2009. That’s up 10.8% from $336.6 million in 2008. Earnings per unit rose 11.5%, to $2.33 from $2.09, on more units outstanding....

BCE INC. $29 (Toronto symbol BCE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 767.2 million; Market cap: $22.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 6.0%; SI Rating: Above Average) provides telephone and Internet services in Ontario and Quebec. It also sells wireless and satellite TV services across Canada. BCE is starting to see the benefits of a restructuring plan that it began in July 2008. Under the plan, the company cut jobs, relocated employees and sold extra real estate. These moves should save BCE $400 million annually by the end of this year. In 2009, BCE’s earnings rose 6.5%, to $1.9 billion from $1.8 billion in the prior year. Per-share earnings rose 11.1%, to $2.50 from $2.25, on fewer shares outstanding. These figures exclude restructuring costs and other unusual items. Revenue rose 0.4%, to $17.74 billion from $17.66 billion....

Canada’s big telephone companies have faced strong competition from cable companies for years. This experience will help them deal with three new entrants in the wireless field. One of these new competitors, Wind Mobile, is already operating. Two more, Mobilicity and Public Mobile, should launch later this year. Meanwhile, all four major phone companies are using their steady cash flows to expand and improve their wireless and high-speed Internet networks. That will fuel their long-term growth, and let them keep paying or raise their current dividends. BCE INC. $29 (Toronto symbol BCE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 767.2 million; Market cap: $22.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 6.0%; SI Rating: Above Average) provides telephone and Internet services in Ontario and Quebec. It also sells wireless and satellite TV services across Canada....

Dividend 15 Split Corp., $11.69, symbol DFN on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 11.2 million; Market cap: $131.2 million), is a split-share investment corporation that holds shares of 15 companies: BCE Inc., CI Financial Corporation, AGF Management, TransAlta Corporation, SunLife Financial, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, TransCanada Corporation, Manulife Financial, TD Bank, TMX Group, Royal Bank of Canada, Loblaw, Bank of Montreal, Telus Corporation and Enbridge. The company can also invest up to 15% of its portfolio in other equity issues. Dividend 15 Split Corp. has two share classes: Dividend 15 Split Corp. capital shares (Toronto symbol DFN), and Dividend 15 Split Corp. preferred shares (Toronto symbol DFN.PR.A)....

BCE INC., $28.60, Toronto symbol BCE, is starting to see the benefits of its restructuring plan, which began in July 2008. The plan included cutting jobs, relocating employees and selling extra real estate. The restructuring should save the company $400 million a year by the end of this year. In 2009, BCE’s earnings rose 6.5%, to $1.9 billion from $1.8 billion in the prior year. Per-share earnings rose 11.1%, to $2.50 from $2.25, on fewer shares outstanding. These figures exclude restructuring costs and other unusual items. The latest earnings beat the $2.49 a share that analysts were expecting. Revenue rose 0.4%, to $17.74 billion from $17.66 billion. BCE continues to lose residential phone customers to cable and wireless providers. The company now has 6.9 million local telephone subscribers, down 6.1% from the previous year. However, some of these customers are switching to the company’s own wireless service. BCE had 6.8 million wireless subscribers at the end of 2009. That’s a gain of 5.2% over the previous year....

I hope you are enjoying and profiting from the stock trading advice in my TSI Network Daily Updates. Every day, TSI Network attracts a wide variety of Canadian investors. To take the pulse of this unique online community, we publish weekly polls so we can see what the site’s visitors think of current financial issues. The feedback we get from these polls often forms the basis of the stock trading advice we give you in our TSI Network Daily Updates. We also welcome you to submit your own questions about stock trading advice or any other investment matter, so you can quickly and easily get a feel for where other investors stand on issues that affect you. Just send your suggestions to pat@tsinetwork.ca. If we think they’re suitable for the site, we’ll post them as our “Financial Question of the Week.”...

CGI GROUP INC. $15 (Toronto symbol GIB.A; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 297.0 million; Market cap: $4.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; No dividends paid; SI Rating: Extra Risk) is Canada’s largest provider of computer-outsourcing and information-technology services. It also operates in 15 other countries. Canada provided 57% of CGI’s revenue in its latest year, followed by the U.S./India (36%) and Europe/Asia (7%). CGI’s main businesses are: 1) Outsourcing: CGI takes over all or part of a client’s information-technology and related functions. That lets the client cut costs and gain ongoing access to the most current computer technology. Outsourcing accounts for 60% of CGI’s revenue. 2) Consulting: In addition to technical expertise, CGI aims to ensure that its consultants have knowledge of the business issues in their clients’ industries or sectors....

We’ve chosen CGI Group is our “Stock of the Year” for 2010. It differs from past #1 picks in that it’s not a dividend payer and we rate it as Extra Risk. But we’ve followed it a long time and feel it may have set off on a rise that lasts years beyond 2010. The company took its present form in September 1981, and first sold shares to the public for $0.81 each (adjusted for splits) in December 1986. In June 2002, we added CGI to the stocks we analyze in Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter for aggressive investors. It was then trading at $8.75. In December 2007, we thought the company had matured enough to suit more conservative investors, so we moved it to The Successful Investor. The stock has gained 50% since then....

Canada’s telephone companies continue to face rising competition. Along with wireless and cable companies, Internet-based phone services, such as Skype, have also gained in popularity. Now, three new wireless providers (Globalive’s WIND Mobile, DAVE Wireless, and Public Mobile) are set to enter the Canadian market. This new competition will put pressure on BCE Inc. (symbol BCE on Toronto), Canada’s largest telephone service provider. In light of this and other developments surrounding this conservative investing stock, we’ve updated our buy/sell/hold advice in the latest Canadian Wealth Advisor, our newsletter for safety-conscious conservative investing....