Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, August 14, 2020

Article Excerpt

BCE INC., $56.76, Toronto symbol BCE, remains a buy. Through their shares, investors tap Canada’s largest traditional telephone service provider: it has 2.6 million residential customers in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces. BCE also has 3.6 million high-speed Internet users and 2.59 million TV subscribers. In addition, the company sells wireless services to 10.01 million users across Canada and owns TV and radio stations. Starting with the April 2020 payment, BCE increased your quarterly payment to $0.8325 a share, up 5.0% from $0.7925. The new annual rate of $3.33 offers investors a high 5.9% yield. The COVID-19 lockdowns and the absence of live sporting events severely hurt advertising revenue at BCE’s media properties. Travel restrictions also hurt the amount of roaming fees its wireless business typically collects, while closures of BCE’s retail outlets slowed its ability to sign up new customers. As a result, the company’s revenue in the quarter ended June 30, 2020, fell 9.1%, to $5.35 billion from $5.89 billion…