
TSE:T
The dividend is safe and in fact growing at the fastest rate among Canadian telcos at 5-7% this year. Pays 6.2%. He's about to buy more shares for himself and clients. Good long-term growth ahead because immigration is rising at high levels, a tailwind for Telus. But they're having problems with Telus International, so they lowered guidance. They invested in next-generation technology, good long term but will be lumpy. More competition comes with Shaw-Rogers, but this won't be a huge change. Shares are as cheap as they have been for a long time.
Recently sold. Really high multiple of 22x adjusted 2024 earnings. Debt servicing costs are going up. Regulatory environment in Canada is uncertain.
Consolidation in the communication space, driving price competition. Market share gains are really tough. Thinks Rogers will come in and try to capture market share out West. As interest rates tick higher, dividend yield is less compelling when you can get the same return from bond-type investments.
The weakness does look to be across telcos in general, vs a Telus specific problem. We think it is a combo of concerns on slower growth, tougher inflation passthrough going forward, higher rates and relative attractiveness of dividends vs what you can get in bonds. Add in poor sentiment as well given recent performance. We don't think its a specific 'issue' at the company though. It probably does make sense to start slowly picking away at these types of names.
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This one depends on your time horizon. Q2 was in line. Really trying to do cost-saving. Cut free cashflow guidance, with negative EPS for the next little bit. Nice 7% dividend growth. Expensive PE. Best in the space with core business and other assets, which should be tailwinds. He's more of a buyer than a seller at this point.