Telus resumes dividend hikes

Article Excerpt

TELUS CORP. $26 is a buy. The stock (Toronto symbol T; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 1.3 billion; Market cap: $33.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 4.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.telus.com) lets investors tap Canada’s third-largest wireless carrier after Rogers Communications (No. 1) and Bell Mobility (No. 2). The company also sells landline phone, Internet, TV and home security services in B.C., Alberta and eastern Quebec. Telus tends to raise its quarterly dividend twice a year. However, it skipped the planned July 2020 increase due to uncertainty caused by COVID-19. The company had to deal with the closure of retail stores and the suspension of data overage fees for Internet customers. Now that its operations are returning to normal, Telus will raise your quarterly dividend by 6.8%. Starting with the January 2021 payment, investors will receive $0.3112 a share instead of $0.29125. The new annual rate of $1.245 yields a high 4.8%. Telus is a buy. buy…