BCE Inc. (BCE.TO)

Most people buy it for the dividend yield. He likes the relative safety. His preferred way to play Telcos, utilities and pipelines is with an ETF, ZWU-T. It is a covered call strategy with about 7% yield and is much more diversified than picking one stock. But you can't help liking BCE-T regardless.

Rogers is now trading at 14x. They missed on earnings. BCE didn't miss on earnings and has good growth. They also have a good dividend. However, BCE is trading at 17x. Both will be beneficiaries of 5G.

BCE vs T Both operate in a regulated industry that allows above normal margins. Consumers are cutting cords and there is push back on cell phone bills. You are probably better owing a US telecom company instead. He prefers Shaw or AT&T.

Rogers? He doesn't follow the telcos daily, but he prefers telcos over cable companies. Telus and BCE have nearly completed their 5G install, though Rogers is converting too. BCE is better than Rogers, which blew its budget on the NHL broadcast licenses; Canadian teams haven't gone deep into the playoffs which has limited Rogers' revenue. In fact, there's more growth in soccer and other non-hockey sports, so that's a tailwind for BCE's broadcasting arm. All telcos will be impacted by the unlimited data plans now on the market. BCE has great assets and a lower payout ratio than Rogers.

A lot like the other telecoms there is relatively low growth, T-T pays a good dividend. He owns BCE-T instead. Valuations are on the upper end of the band for both these. You could expect 3-5% increases in share price plus the dividend. Yield 4.6%

BAM vs. BCE A 3% weight in BCE is enough. 50% of their EBITDA comes from landlines, but their credit rating isn't great. Cord cutting is accelerating on the old telephones. He prefers BAM here. Brookfield is a money manager that does very prudent acquisitions, and is a Canadian success story. BCE's dividend growth will wane given the above reasons, unless they expand internationally. Brookfield offers international exposure.