Tapping rural demand will spur gains

Article Excerpt

BCE INC. $55 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol BCE; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 904.3 million; Market cap: $49.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 6.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bce.ca) is expanding the availability of its wireless home Internet service to households in rural locations and smaller towns. This service uses Bell’s existing fibre and wireless networks to provide high-speed access to hard-to-reach locations. Right now, the service is available to 400,000 homes in Ontario and Quebec. BCE expects to ultimately reach 1 million homes in those provinces as well as Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, PEI, New Brunswick and Manitoba. This expansion will help the company further profit from the increased number of Canadians now working from home. BCE is a buy. buy…