Telus Corp (T.TO)

Lots of moving parts. All telecoms are helped by increased immigration. People leaving would impact the numbers needing telco services, but will that actually happen? Mature business. New CEO, who may focus on paying down debt. Dividend flat, but market's now expecting a cut. 

She welcomed the new CEO, but the market has been selling this since. Telus needs to reduce debt and monetize assets like selling Telus Health or real estate. The CEO has experience doing this. Telus is growing faster than the other telcos and is ahead in their capex spending in 5G. The stock is down because of expectations that the new CEO will cut the dividend, which she does not want to happen but it could happen. She sees long-term value. Pays a 9% dividend now.

Take a step back and look at the entire sector -- impacted by regulatory changes on immigration, and competitive pricing has weighed it down.

Operational outlook seems reasonable, but not overly excited about it. He prefers RCI.B.

New CEO has a banking background. Dividend health is questionable (may not decline, but won't increase). Below 200-day MA, which is sliding lower (as is the 5-year weekly average).

Need to see interest rates in Canada move down before some of the high-dividend names look more attractive. He owns no telcos.

Great dividend. At these levels, doesn't need a lot to go well to deliver a pretty good result. Cut costs, positioning for better earnings growth despite muted revenue growth. Increased prices are way overdue -- not great for consumers, but should boost stocks.

At beaten-down price, a 10% annualized return (including dividend) for the next few years is very achievable.

Don't get attracted by a high dividend. He owns this, Rogers and BCE. He favours slightly Rogers because they monetize their sports assets. What's plagued all of them is wireless pricing in Canada. If you're overweight this, trim it.

See his BCE comments. Telus is okay, not amazing. Growth is low. You get the dividend and modest growth. He prefers Quebecor.

Largest telecom provider of services that people use every day. Wireless competition remains intense -- offsetting that by growing health and digital services. Decided to pause dividend increases, now almost 9% yield for a telco that isn't going anywhere. She continues to hold for the income, especially good for retirees. Not a bad time to add. Ranks 9/10 on value. Analysts see 26-27% upside from here.

A turnaround story over next 12-24 months. Be patient.

A lot of these companies talk about dividend growth and increase their dividends on an ongoing basis. Telus is basically stopping that, just keeping the dividend where it is. He rather wishes they'd cut the dividend. That would have been a better move with the stock already having fallen a lot, and it might have bounced back.

The environment for these companies has been very difficult. Fruition of 5G not happening as quickly as people were thinking. CRTC is also very difficult to deal with. This name has developed other businesses which will benefit it, and it's still in his dividend portfolio.

Sees it coming back from the recent dividend announcement. Paused dividend growth aspirations after taking a hard look at balance sheet, organic growth, and competitive intensity. Really didn't want to become the next BCE. Still thinks shares are undervalued. Likes unpriced catalysts such as urban real estate.

Disappointing performer, but he's going to be patient with this one.

Really good job communicating the company message -- how committed it is to the dividend. When BCE showed that it wasn't as committed, that stock went down by a third. Probably the strongest management team in the industry, applauds them for being on the side of the shareholder. Valuation has come down a lot, so you could consider it.

Doesn't own due to the growth profile. More positive on this name than almost all other telecoms.

Thinks we'll see this stock behave similarly to BCE stock in recent years. (Though BCE does have a few other issues than Telus has.) Pressure will continue. 

That's why he's been recommending ZWU for dividend seekers, as it gives you a better yield at the end of the day and more diversification.

It is at a 52 week low and there is concern they may cut the dividend which is 9% They are freezing it now. It can take advantage of more free cash flow because a lot of Capex is done. The catalyst for the stock to go back up is confidence in its ability to grow. The telecom business is not as attractive as it used to be because of a lot of competition.

A surprise to him similar to TD, but in the opposite direction. Once BCE cut its dividend, there was blood in the water and gave people a reason to run away from its closest peer, Telus. But Telus is in a bit of a different situation.

Its big, decade-long capex spend on fibre to the home started 2-3 years earlier. Had an easier time of it, as it was in jurisdictions with newer infrastructure. Doesn't think they have to cut dividend. Market may have preferred them to pay down debt faster, and this is short-term thinking. ENB and ALA faced similar market pressure around 2017-18, and look where they are today.

Competition in Canada has been tough but it won't be forever, and these are forever assets. Don't sweat the small stuff, buy it here.

Price has struggled. Company recently announced a pause on dividend growth. Business not really growing, but it kept increasing dividend. 

If you bought this for the dividend, you should feel slightly more comfortable that the dividend is now sustainable. Company wants to get back to a place where it earns its dividend, and that's really what you want. Watch to make sure the payout ratio keeps coming down so that eventually it's earning more than the dividend. Stock price may move in anticipation of that. Now seeing some rotation and stock consolidating as some investors see an opportunity to get in, while others have just had enough and get out.

His firm likes to see confirmation from price momentum, so this isn't one he'd own.