Manitoba Telecom Services (MBT.TO)

Owns this, but also owns BCE (BCE-T) and Telus (T-T). This one is a little tricky. It has been the most volatile of the telecoms. If you are looking for a long-term, solid telecom, he would buy BCE. It is less volatile and he thinks there could be another dividend increase in the next little while.

The telecom sector has been in a consolidation process for a while, and he thinks it will continue. Cable companies and telephone companies are going to be gobbled up. There is going to be competitive pressures. Dividend yield of 4.5%.

The dividend cut was a sensible thing. He bought some shares when it bottomed this spring. It is more of a hold here. It reacts to short swings. Tuck it away. It is at the upper end of its price range. Buy it under $26.

It has always been speculated to spin out All Stream. That and the pension was a large overhang. The pension is looking better, but they were unsuccessful in selling All Stream to date. You would have to get it dealt with for it to be a buy for him, but he would understand why someone would hold this.

The stock broke down through some pretty important technical support at 2X BV and hasn’t yet met its downside target of about $21-$22. Earnings forecasts are trending lower. Dividends are still very high relative to their earnings.

Has been quite concerned about this. Has been selling his holdings and taking losses lately. He is worried about the dividend. The new president has said they are doing an internal review to see if they can really afford the dividend.

Yield of about 6.8%, but it is questionable if they can maintain it. They could possibly cut it again. This could be a take out candidate some day, but on the acquirer’s calendar, not Manitoba Telecom’s.

More of a defensive stock and you tend to see them do well more towards the late summer period. Investors will want to go towards the higher yielding equities and stocks like this can to do well in the last half of the year. Between now and May, this company tends to underperform the market.

New CEO who has a lot of experience in many different industries. They are going through a review and will have to make a decision on their dividend. The payout for a telco is too high. They also have Allstream that they have tried to sell. They could sell off the growth aspects and keep the more mature business division. There could be a 25%-30% dividend cut. He would not own the stock. If you own, wait until there is a dividend cut, and if it is enough, that would be an opportunity to either add to your position or get into the name.

Thinks Allstream has been weighing on them. Their best opportunity is to try and find a way to divest it and focus on core operations, and ultimately preserve their dividends. He estimates the 2015 payout ratio to be at 104%. You will get paid your dividend this year, but he is not so sure of the strength of the market over the next year. He wouldn’t be putting new money into this yet.

The last couple of years, this stock has really done nothing. Has been in the current trading area for quite a long time. It has a new upside target in the mid-$40. If you own, and are looking for a better place, look to Telus (T-T) or BCE (BCE-T).

Technicals on this company are not great. Chart shows a long period of a downward trend followed by a short downward trend. Seasonally this usually does well from about May right through until October of each year.

Everybody thought this was going to be a takeover target and there was going to be a huge amount of value released. That turned out not to be the case. He would go with the big ones rather than this one. The breakup value might be $40, but it is not going to be broken up.

You probably want to put your money somewhere else. They used to think it would be bought out, but there are all kinds of regulatory rules that will prevent it. He would move the capital into oil and gas stocks that have been beaten up.

Had benefited from being a rich dividend provider. The problem is, it just doesn’t have any growth. Going forward, you are probably going to get a good dividend, but with no growth. There is no room for them to grow. They are sort of landlocked. If you are happy with the dividend, you can continue to Hold it.