Stock price when the opinion was issued
Best telco in Canada. Dividend sustainable, but will also grow faster than peers; proof is in 7% increase this past year. Price war is fizzling out. More financial strength and optionality than competitors, and less distracted by acquisitions. Plans to monetize $3B of surplus real estate. Yield is 7.55%, elevated relative to its 10-year average of 5%.
(Analysts’ price target is $23.49)It's as though you're at an ugly dog show, but there's one that's less ugly. That's Telus. Spending lots of $$ on their network. Raised dividend recently -- nice, growing, relatively secure. Stable business, stable cashflow. Attractive valuation. Not a bad income stock.
In a protected environment. The whole sector will be in trouble if the government opens the door to foreign competition.
Telcos has been struggling, but remains bullish on Telus. Scores 9 for value. They announced a partnership to monetize their wireless tower infrastructure, and will buy completely Telus Digital. Q2 earnings affirmed guidance. Stable cash flow. Not an exciting growth, but will get an over 7% dividend (safe) and diversified growth. Caveat: heavy debt. Lower rates will give telcos some relief.
Competitive, tough times in the industry now. Catalyst in 9-10 months when it spins off healthcare division, thinks this will be successful. More successful than TIXT, since brought back into the fold (which some analysts weren't happy with). Committed to growing dividend, though he'd rather see dividend growth slowed and debt paid down.
If you're a long-term investor, hold. For new $$, start looking around $20.
Up ~11% YTD. She recommended this defensive play when she anticipated softness in the stock market. (If she liked it a year ago on concerns of economic weakness, she definitely likes it now ;) About to start its copper decommissioning. Capex should come off in next few quarters. Yield is 7.6%.
Become differentiated when you drill into the metrics. Both suffering from credit downgrades. Took on a lot of debt for 5G buildout, but weren't able to increase pricing. Number of immigrants has slowed. Lots of price competition, just as elsewhere in the world.
In last quarter, increased dividend. Less risky than BCE right now. Debt/equity ~150%, so not as much onus on debt repayment as for BCE. Has the potential of other operations like TIXT and Telus Health, so it's doing other things outside of just telecom; appears to be promising growth, but we'll see.
In last quarter, BCE cut dividend. Debt/equity is at 200%.