Updating BCE Inc., Bank of Montreal and Emera Inc.

Article Excerpt

BCE INC. $51 (Toronto symbol BCE; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 898.0 million; Market cap: $45.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 5.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bce.ca) stands to gain from the new trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada (called USMCA). The new agreement overturns broadcast regulations that let cable and satellite providers show the annual NFL Super Bowl football championship game with U.S. commercials. That has hurt demand for Canadian advertising space during BCE’s broadcast of the game. In 2017, the policy cut the company’s Super Bowl advertising revenue by $11 million. To put that in context, revenue for BCE’s media division was $3.1 billion in 2017. BCE is our #1 Conservative Buy for 2018. BANK OF MONTREAL $105 (Toronto symbol BMO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 645.5 million; Market cap: $67.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 3.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bmo.com) has completed its acquisition of KGS-Alpha Capital Markets. Based in New…