More to BCE than rising dividends

Article Excerpt

BCE has gained 16% in the past year, compared to a 0.2% decline for the S&P/TSX Composite Index. The jump reflects concerns about the U.S.-China trade dispute, which has raised the possibility that central banks will cut their interest rates. That has, in turn, increased investor demand for high-yielding dividend stocks like BCE. Meantime, the company continues to benefit from recent upgrades to its wireless and Internet networks. Those improvements are helping it attract new customers, which gives it more cash for new growth projects as well as dividends. BCE INC. $63 (Toronto symbol BCE; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 898.8 million; Market cap: $56.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; Dividend yield: 5.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bce.ca) is Canada’s largest traditional telephone service provider, with 2.9 million customers in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces. It also has 3.4 million high-speed Internet users and 2.8 million TV subscribers. In addition, the company sells wireless services to 9.5 million users…