Telus positions itself for new growth

Article Excerpt

Dear client: We feel Telus and other major carriers have years of growth ahead of them. Most Canadians now own a cellphone, which has slowed demand for wireless services. But new smartphones, including the upcoming iPhone 8 from Apple, will prompt many of Telus’s users to upgrade their data plans. The company’s faster Internet systems will also raise profit as Canadians switch from regular TV to streaming services such as Netflix. Those trends should let Telus continue to increase its dividend. The stock price is also attractive in relation to the company’s earnings. TELUS CORP. $44 (Toronto symbol T; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 590.0 million; Market cap: $26.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 4.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.telus.com) has 8.4 million subscribers and is Canada’s second-largest wireless carrier, after Rogers Communications. In 2016, wireless supplied 56% of Telus’s revenue and 69% of its earnings. The remaining 44% of revenue and 31% of earnings came from its wireline business. It…