Topic: How To Invest

The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, May 9, 2025

Article Excerpt

BCE INC., $31.60, Toronto symbol BCE, remains a buy for long-term gains and income. The company is Canada’s largest traditional telephone service provider. It has 1.77 million residential customers in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces. It also has 4.42 million high-speed Internet users and 2.12 million fibre-optic TV subscribers. In addition, the company sells wireless services to 13.37 million users across Canada (including users of other mobile devices like tablets), and it owns TV and radio stations. Due to the current economic uncertainty and its high debt load—long-term debt of $33.87 billion is a high 116% of its $29.1 billion market cap—the company is cutting its quarterly dividend by 56.1%. Starting with the July 2025 payment, investors will receive $0.4375 a share instead of $0.9975. The new annual rate of $1.75 still yields a solid 5.5%. Moreover, BCE now aims to pay out between 40% and 55% of free cash flow as dividends, down from its earlier range of 65% to 75%. Based…