Dividend increase: Telus

Article Excerpt

TELUS CORP. $47 (Toronto symbol T; Income-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 599.0 million; Market cap: $28.2 billion; Dividend yield: 4.6%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.telus.com) is Canada’s third-largest wireless carrier, after Rogers Communications (No. 1) and Bell Mobility (No. 2), with 9.15 million subscribers. It also has 1.3 million landline phone customers in B.C., Alberta and eastern Quebec. That’s in addition to its 1.8 million Internet users and 1.1 million TV customers. The company will now raise its quarterly dividend by 3.8%. Starting with the January 2019 payment, investors will receive $0.545 a share, up from $0.525. The new annual rate of $2.18 yields a high 4.6%. Telus expects to increase its annual dividend rate by between 7% and 10% in 2019. Telus is a buy. buy…