
TSE:BCE
BCE dividend is north of 7%, while Rogers is not that high. BCE has media assets. Tends to increase dividend every year, so it's a bit more geared to income. For the more conservative and income-focused investor.
They both share the sports teams in Toronto.
Rogers tends to be more focused on the cellular side. With Shaw acquisition, you should see more growth in the West. Cell ads will come. More competition. More growthy and volatile. If you made him pick, he'd choose this one now, as the Shaw acquisition will help grow the company.
He expects interest rates in Canada to keep rising, as high as 15%. BCE is tied closely to interest rates. He targets $35.81, or 32.5% lower than now. Their earnings can't match the dividend they pay out. Basically, you're losing equity (book value) as you collect the 7.24% dividend. Or you can buy a GIC of 5.5%.
Chosen for defensive income. All telecoms have faced headwinds from interest rates, regulatory concerns, and increased competition. No one's gone super price-competitive yet. Immigration a positive. Capital spending on fibre should trend down next couple of years. Happy to hold. Yield just over 7%.
Telcos, along with banks and utilities, have been abandoned this year as investors flock to bonds, high-interest savings accounts and even GICs. However, interest rates have stopped grinding higher in Canada and the U.S., at least for a while. These sectors are oversold. BCE's PE has sunk from a 52-week high of 24.39x on July 3 to 20.84x on Nov. 1. Its median average of the past five years is 19.82x, so BCE is trading at a fair valuation. Also, it now pays a hefty 7.52% dividend yield that nobody expects to be cut. Upside is more likely downside from here on, given that it's trading only $3 above its 52-week low of $49.57.