Telus Corp (T.TO)

Valuation getting a little stretched. 3.7% yield. BCE is not a bad idea either and has their stated dividend policy.

(A Top Pick May 15/12. Up 17.31%.) Class A shares.

Hit an all-time high today. There is a lot of chasing of yields going on. Telcos are generous with dividends and they keep raising them so people keep buying these stocks. Yield of 3.7%. He questions what happens a year from now if we start to see the five-year bond going up towards 3%. This is the big risk you face with some of these stocks. He is a believer in the telecom sector simply because of data usage but a little nervous of telcos right now. Owns them but has his fingers crossed.

Very expensive to him. His model price is $52.48 versus its current price of $67.70. A negative 21%. Everyone is in love with the yield even though it is only 3.3%. A lot of opportunities elsewhere.

In his top five holdings in the firm. A poster child for what has worked. Dividends have grown over time. Payout ratio is going down. Should be a core holding. All three in this sector have what he is looking for.

Combining voting and no-voting shares will not affect the dividend. Collapsing it will be positive and will increase liquidity.

Selling Covered Call Options on Telus shares? First you have to decide what you want this to do. Stock is currently at $67 so the option series are going to be $66 and $68. If he sold the $66, he would be selling at $1 in the money, in other words just paying for his own option. If he was to go to the $68, he wouldn’t get that much. He would wait a little to see if he gets up to $67 or goes back to $66. Also, how far out you want to sell the option? He normally goes out 6 months to get better downside protection. Also, what is the ex-dividend date?

Recently touched a new all-time high. Selling slightly above its average multiple over the last number of years. Has the largest exposure to wireless. Likes its outlook. Increasing its dividend at about a 10% pace per year, which he thinks will continue for at least the next couple. Have strong pre-cash flow growth to support it.

Great stock. Growing at a faster clip than some of the other telcos. However, valuations of the telcos are at the high end of their historical range. This happens when you get into a period where investors need to be defensive and they need income and yield and they avoid cyclicals. 3.9% yield.

The whole telecommunication space, he feels, is getting overcrowded and more competitive. However, in a very difficult field, this company is doing well. Thinks the 4% dividend is safe so if you are looking for income and very modest growth, this would be a great long-term hold.

She is out of the telecoms because of competitive issues. Telus is doing well based on Internet TV offerings. This is the one she would buy if she was getting back into the sector. Stable income, increasing dividend over time.

Toronto dominion (TD-T) or Telus (T-T) for a TFSA? Neither one of these is a bad bet. In the long run, this is the one that he would want to own. Has had a great run over the last couple of years and he thinks this is going to continue. They have been raising the dividend twice a year over the last 3 years, which they have committed to do publicly.

Great story, the growth year for the name. It has had an incredible run. They will do well going forward but he thinks there will not be a lot of growth. Dividend is safe. 3.94% yield.

This company has been great. What has really gone well for the telecoms in general is the higher penetration rates on smart phones, which has led to higher data usage and they have really grown with this. He is watching in case this starts to slow down. Pretty expensive, but he continues to hold and likes it.

A nice, conservative holding. If the markets go into a down-turn, this has held in quite nicely in the past downturns, but it has done nicely recently and could fall next year so perhaps take a little off the table.