BCE Inc. (BCE.TO)

Another contrarian pick. Has a place in a diversified equity portfolio. Strong brand, blue chip. Conservative investment. Long-life, high-quality assets. Very attractive multiple is at 10-year low, cheaper than stock market and of higher quality. Yield is close to 9%.

Higher rates have pressured the share price of this interest-sensitive stock. High yield competes with higher bond returns. Increased competition has impacted share price. Regulatory environment has been challenging, with calls to share its network.

They've suffered higher interest rates, but rates will come down maybe as soon as June and will continue for a few years. This should help stocks like BCE.

Doesn't think dividend will be cut, company has always been firm on this. Don't get in right now, dividend yield has risen dramatically to 9% as stock's come down. Intensified competition, financial performance of all telcos will get worse. More bad news to come in subsequent quarters.

Siren song of the high dividend lures many investors. Dividend investing is not just looking for the highest yield. He sold about 2 months ago, as Canadian telecoms are in a brutal price war. At some point, it will be buyable, but not today. Cadence of dividend growth won't keep up to expectations. 

Good yield with both. 5G is not very mature, but will work out well over the next several years. Lots of growth in data. Debt-oriented companies in a high interest rate environment, this has hurt them both. Need to rationalize their businesses, but government intervenes when it chooses, as with BCE layoffs. So they have to be careful.

Tough slog with BCE. Issue is that people are worried dividend will be cut, or that assets will be sold to cover it. Yield is almost 9%, but he doesn't "think" they'll cut it. May have to sell more assets to bring down debt. Don't switch at these levels. Hold, and hope for better times ahead.

Telus is incredibly well run. Includes a number of great businesses they've developed and brought out in public.

He's reduced his holding (and entirely sold Rogers). Concerned if their cash can cover their dividend. Is waiting for more growth. The company says that capex will decrease in a few years and they can sustain the dividend. Clearly, the market is concerned with their 9% dividend. Great managers and high returns? Both no.

Has been buying stock, but overall company has not been performing. Suspects dividend cut is in the works. Once dividend is cut, the stock price will bottom out. Not a great time in the business. 

There is lots of competition in wireless. It is income oriented so look elsewhere for growth. The dividend should be safe.

Tough, because so widely held. Trading today where it was during worst week of financial crisis in 2009. Earnings haven't grown for 10 years. Dividend is high, as is debt. Hard to make money if you don't have pricing power. Dividend's not worth losing capital.

Yes. But we're seeing a negative total return in the past year, despite a high dividend.

Sold on lower growth outlook. Payout ratio high due to capex. Good question if dividend is safe, he thinks it is. Stock won't go anywhere for a while. Could hold and collect the dividend. He'd take the loss and buy Telus right away. Sold to buy Telus and QBR.B. 

Large company, not too worried about dividend. Technical basis not suggesting a buy. Would wait for ultimate bottom before buying. 

Income stock. Interest sensitive sector, which tends to carry a lot more debt. Paying out more than free cashflow, has been very transparent on this. Payout ratio should get below 100%, but not for a couple of years. Yield is 8.6%, doesn't think it will be cut, safe, investment-grade balance sheet.

Doesn't think company should increase dividend. Increased by 3% last quarter. She didn't think this was necessary, as yield is already pretty attractive.

Consensus is BOC will start to cut rates June 2024, and this will be good for telecom stocks in general including BCE, as cost of funding goes down. Discount rate on cashflow would also go down, so this would support valuations.

Shares have been under pressure because its debt ratio looks too high. The dividend is safe for the short term, but pressure from the big institutions may force a cut. Also, he firmly believes that interest rates will fall later this year which will reduce the pain of their debt, so these stocks will rise. Don't sell BCE here, but it won't go up in the next few weeks.

Due to the falling price it now pays about an 8% dividend which he feels is sustainable, although the payout ratio is quite high. If interest rates come down this should help dividend payers and the Canadian stock market in general. The Canadian markets have more dividend payers than the U.S. markets.