Telus looks to unlock value

Article Excerpt

TELUS, $20.04, is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol T; Shares outstanding: 1.5 billion; Market cap: $31.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 8.0%; www.telus.com) continues to explore a plan to unlock the value of its cellphone tower network. That would include selling roughly half of these assets to institutional investors such as pension funds. A sale could raise about $1 billion for Telus, which it would apply to its long-term debt of $25.61 billion (as of December 31, 2024). That’s equal to 82% of its market cap. Separately, Telus is also looking at selling $3 billion worth of surplus real estate to reduce its debt load. These moves, which would cut its interest costs, would also let Telus keep raising your dividend beyond 2025. In 2024, dividend payments accounted for 82% of free cash flow (regular cash flow less capital expenditures). That’s above the target payout range of 60% to 75%. Telus Corp. is a buy. buy…