Telus Corp (T.TO)

For the Canadian telcos, regulatory challenges won't go away. In response, the telcos pledged to invest in rural areas, but those areas now have Starlink. Also, Freedom Mobile and Quebecor have added a lot more competition. The telcos won't bounce back anytime soon.

Not a fan of the telcos; doesn't like the oligopoly.  All the telcos have declined from lower immigration to Canada. Valuation trades in line with peers. He's not excited by the space, but it's a decent place to hide your capital, paying a reasonable yield though there is a chance it could be reduced.

Great question. New CEO did a great job with CM. Last quarter was in line. Not looking for a lot of growth with the telcos. Hasn't seen a lot of pricing discipline, which is delaying recovery in these names.

Cheap, with an OK growth rate. Payout ratio too high. Nice dividend, but he thinks it probably (more than 50% chance) will be cut 30-40%. If so, stock likely to rally.

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.