Updating our Income stocks: Telus Corp., Molson Coors Canada Inc. and Great-West Lifeco Inc.

Article Excerpt

TELUS CORP. $29 (www.telus.com) is a buy. Telus added 320,000 new subscribers (including cellphones, Internet and TV services, net of cancellations) in the third quarter of 2021. That’s a gain of 15.5% from 277,000 a year earlier. Telus will now up your quarterly dividend by 3.5%. The annual rate of $1.31 a share yields a high 4.5%. Telus is a buy. MOLSON COORS CANADA INC. $57 (www.molsoncoors.com) is a hold. Now that bars and restaurants are re-opening following last year’s COVID-19 lockdowns, the beer brewer’s sales in the three months ended September 30, 2021, improved 2.5%, to $2.82 billion from $2.75 billion a year earlier (all amounts except share price in U.S. dollars). Earnings before one-time items gained 8.0%, to $1.75 a share from $1.62. However, rising transportation and packaging costs could dampen its future earnings growth. Molson Coors is a hold. GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $38 (www.greatwestlifeco.com) is a hold. The company recently paid $4.4 billion for the retirement services business of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. As a result, its earnings in…