John McCollBCE Inc.BCE.TOTOP PICKSep 25, 2002

Has owned this 17 years. Now is a great time to buy it as it pays a safe 7% dividend. There were concerns about the dividend, but shares are creeping up as that concern fades. Great margins and cash flow.

Owns shares and likes ~7% dividend yield. Falling interest rates will be good for the business. Wireless industry basically an oligopoly. Immigration into Canada will be good for business. Demand for interest also rising. Expecting to see further growth. 

~5% yield is safe. Good for defensive investors. Rising population good for business. Recent share price weakness a good place to buy. Would hold if already own shares. Good infrastructure in company. 

Close in valuations. Owns and likes both, but Telus a little better at these levels, as it has not as much capex ahead plus diversified businesses. BCE has more debt. Looking to increase weight of Telus. Both seem to be bottoming. Regulatory looks tougher going ahead. Be wary of any slowing in immigration, especially with any change in government. 

Not the total return stories of the past 5-6 years, but good solid dividend yield. Start picking away at half positions.

He doesn't see much downside and the 7% dividend yield makes it attractive. A former top pick of his. Last year, telcos faced pressure, but this year will be better. People won't give up their cell phones and 5G internet to their homes.  Now is a pretty good entry point.

BCE is more like a bond, given less growth than POW. POW will outperform this year. Insurers have done very well in the past year. Great-West Life is 70% of POW, now trading at a 30% discount to NAV vs. its historic 15-20% discount, so should gain momentum on this alone. The insurers are a little better than the telcos now.

Interest rates went up further than he thought, and bond proxies fell. Balance sheet now more stretched, recent acquisition has led to questions on best use of capital. 5% dividend growth, but investors are questioning wisdom of that use of cash. 17.7x PE is not cheap. This name will work over the next few years.

He doesn't think a 5% weighting in a stock is crazy, it's very reasonable. If you have a lot of conviction in those companies, then that's where your weighting should be. Yield is around 7%. Won't reduce the dividend unless something really terrible happens. Extremely mature company, will grow with GDP plus or minus, highly levered. 

Investors own for the dividend. He wouldn't overweight his portfolio with it, but makes sense for a certain demographic.

Bullish on stock, and would recommend buying. Recent selloff presenting a good buying opportunity. Stable dividend for long term investors. Shift into more social media content bodes well for BCE. 

Happy to own and add. Compelling yield, which will continue to grow at a mid-single digit pace. Lots of headwinds for indebted households and business, especially in Canada. So he's focused on companies that cater to needs, not wants. Right in the middle of the fairway of that. Good stable grower, dividend compounder, undemanding multiple. Likes the mix of businesses.

(Brian is pleased to report to the viewer that his cat, who made its TV debut during Covid, is alive and well. With Brian's return to the studio, the cat is no longer upstaging him ;)

Dollar-cost average down or will it be a falling knife?

One: telcos fell this year because of rising interest rates. Two: BCE rolled out 5G, which is great, but consumers don't want to pay for it (it's pricey). The Canadian telcos are among the companies that have issued a lot of debt in recent years. They hold a lot of debt. Pays a 7.5% dividend yield, safe, but don't expect much growth unless rates fall in a big way (and he doesn't see a catalyst for that).

Would not be concerned about recent share price selloff. Dividend ~7% rate very strong. Good business model for the long term. Investors "getting paid to wait".

It is not growing too much but pays a dividend of 7%. It is a good company to own in a declining economy. Telecoms have sold off due to rising interest rates.

Own it for income, with attractive dividend yield close to 7%. Share price beaten down. Telecom industry in Canada is basically an oligopoly, despite upcoming increase in competition from Rogers-Shaw. Benefits from immigration.

Great cashflow. Great dividend yield of 7.15%, a level not seen for years. History has shown significant rally after those lows. Chart's started to respond to interest rates moving lower. Not a huge growth story, but will lift with calmer interest rates.