BCE offers growth and a high yield

Article Excerpt

We still think safety-conscious investors should focus on shares of well-established companies with strong businesses. The best of these stocks offer an attractive combination of low p/e ratios, steady or rising dividends and promising growth prospects. BCE has raised its dividend eight times since December 2008. The stock now yields a high 5.2%. It is also inexpensive in relation to BCE’s earnings. BCE INC. $43.43 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 773.9 million; Market cap: $33.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 5.2%; www.bce.ca) is Canada’s largest provider of telephone, Internet and wireless services. It also sells satellite TV services across the country. The company just bought Canadian radio and TV giant Astral Media for $3.4 billion. In the three months ended June 30, 2012, BCE’s earnings per share rose 18.6%, to $1.02 from $0.86 a year earlier. Revenue fell 0.6%, to $4.9 billion from $5.0 billion. Revenue at the traditional telephone business, which supplies 57% of BCE’s overall revenue, fell 3.9%,…