BCE Inc. (BCE.TO)

Nice beautiful dividend. Continue to find ways to grow it. Payout ratio 85% is a little stretched. EPS growth is limited. Trading at 15 times. You would have better growth in other Telco’s. He wouldn’t put fresh money into it now.

If you want to replace it, he would look at ZWU-T because it gives you all the Telco's. It gives you a couple in the US as well as pipelines and utilities. He is not looking for a lot more downside. It pays north of 6%.

They will be benefiting for decades to come so it is a good time to buy Telcos in Canada in general. T-T is a pure play and BCE-T isn't a pure play but he owns both. BCE-T have the best assets in Canada. He shied away from Rogers (RCI.B-T). There is churn and customer service that has to be improved. When it is beaten up it is probably not a bad time to buy it but he prefers the other two companies.

The stock is well-positioned, though wireless demand has slowed. Average use per user has grown, which is a good sign. Pays a dividend above 5%. (Analysts' price target: $59.50)

A defensive stock (and sector) that too many investors have crowded into, thus pressuring the stock down. He'd avoid it.

There is going to be some growth in book value and therefore shareholder value growth this year. After it pays out the dividend, there is not much left over. It is getting close to 2.5 times book value ($50.51) which is a bottom for it. It will be at an attractive technical position and he would buy it there. The dividend is pretty safe.

They offer fibre to the home and are mostly through it. This is transformational. This is the best Canadian telco. They have massive free cash flow to bump up dividends. They will take market share. (Analysts price target $59.50)

(A Top Pick May 18/17 - Down 9%.) They bought it for the dividend. The dividend is safe and waiting for dividend increases. It is good for people that need cash flow.

There is some seasonality to the telcom sector – they tend to do well in the fall time. This is not a growth stock and has been beaten up with the move to higher interest rates. He is not convinced there will be a rapid rise in interest rates, so he would recommend holding. If the price drops a bit in the summer he would consider adding to length ahead of the fall seasonal rally. Yield 5.5%.

There is an ETF for the communications industry, which may be more appropriate if you are speculative. This late in the investment cycle you might want to stick with BCE-T until after the next market downturn.

(Past Top Pick on June 15, 2017, Up 6%) Covered call. He bought at $59 and sold at $60. Sold a December option; in December it was trading at $61. In his last show, he was throwing income ideas out there, recognizing that interest rates would rise. BCE now at $53.50 with another dividend raise looks attractive. All the telecoms have taken a hit, but he thinks that will settle now and rebound.

The telecoms are interest-rate senstitive so they have struggled lately. Also, this industry quickly changes: cable-cutting, cutting home phones. He avoids this space. He can't see what will happen in this industry in the future. BCE is a good dividend play, though.

It is executing well in a mature industry. Wireless is still growing. They are a free cash flow machine. It is a great dividend story. He would love a better entry point.

Stock has sold off in relation to higher interest rates. Highest yield in the entire telecom sector in Canada. If you buy it and put it under the mattress for 10 years you will probably get the dividend and some minimal growth. They don’t own anything in the sector. The dividend is safe.

It is a cash cow. He does not mind their business but is not overweight telcos. He would refer Shaw (SJR.B-T) if was buying a telco.