Verizon Communications (VZ)

Since the restructuring of their balance sheet, the Book Value really fell away underneath the company, and left it on a Price-to-Book value, up in nosebleed country.. FMV calculations would be $60 and higher, but when he looks at the risks on a Price-to-Book point of view, they are at levels that he doesn’t like to take.

Telecoms. Seasonality is June until about October. We just broke above a trading range. If you have it, stick with it.

Equal weight on AT&T (T-N), Verizon (VZ-N) and Vodafone (VOD-Q) as a dividend play? If looking for dividend income, why not take advantage of the dividend tax credit that is offered on Canadian dividends? Although you get a dividend on these, from a tax standpoint it is treated as interest. As far as the telcos in the US are concerned, is that they distribute a lot of cash which generally run at the 4%-5% rate. AT&T is a slower grower. Of these 3, his favourite would probably be this one.

Likes the strategy, but prefers VOD stock. Buy VOD on weakness and hold what you have already. VZ’s balance sheet is stretched.

Looks good in everything she looks for. Major issue is T-mobile. It is threatening margins. The cash they generate is compelling.

A good dividend payer. Very little net gain in the actual stock. If you are looking for a nice dividend play, consider ZWU-T, 6% yield and low volatility.

Better growth prospects than BCE as well as lower PE.

Now near a 52-week low because of the 45% takeover of Verizon Wireless that Vodafone (VOD-Q) owned. This gives you a very decent yield and is the market leader in wireless and 4G rolling out. It probably makes sense to Buy to get up to a full position. Even if it doesn’t do anything for a while, until things settled down, the dividend yield is pretty safe.

Doesn’t own telecom. The buyout is positive. Decent yield. Longer term if you want a player in this space, this is a good name to have.

They are buying VOD-N. Telecom is more of an interest rate proxy. VOD is interesting because so much revenue comes from wireless. Headwinds in VZ are to be from the sale of stock received for their VOD shares. Money may be moving away from interest rate proxies. You might look for a another home for the capital.

Bought 45% of their wireless division that they didn’t own from Vodafone last summer and this generates a lot of cash flow for them. They had to take on a lot of debt to do that. Feels the dividend is sustainable.

They are the premium provider in the US. Dividend is up. He is more bullish on Verizon than Vodaphone. In Canada he likes Telus the best. Fastest revenue growth and 10% dividend growth. Telus CEO is the largest shareholder. BCE today raised their dividend.

Great company. The whole US wireless market is becoming a more and more mature market. These companies are finding ways to grow their EBITDA through beta usage, etc. Not cheap enough for him, but a steady dividend grower. Feels the stock could drop as bond yields rise and then he would take a look at this type of stock.

She puts it in the yield play camp. Stable earnings and not tied to the economy. It won’t hurt you at these levels. Recent acquistion could be a balance sheet issue which she stays away from.

Doing extremely well in the US. 4^th quarter trailing free cash flow is 12%. Canadian telcos are not too keen on having someone with deep pockets coming to Canada. He thinks they will come.