Growth & rising yield

Article Excerpt

TELUS CORP. $51.88 (Toronto symbol T.A; Shares outstanding: 335.6 million; Market cap: $17.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.2%; www.telus.com) continues to benefit from its heavy investments in its wireless networks. Thanks to its rising wireless revenue, Telus has tripled its dividend since 2003. The dividend paying stock now plans to raise its payout twice a year to 2013, and increase the rate by 10% a year. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, Telus’ earnings per share rose 18.8%, to $1.01 from $0.85. Revenue rose 6.5%, to $2.5 billion from $2.4 billion. Demand for wireless services should keep rising. Right now, about 73% of Canadians use a wireless device. That should rise to around 80% in the next two years, as more consumers upgrade from standard cellphones to smartphones and tablet computers. To take advantage of that demand, Telus plans to spend $1.7 billion on capital upgrades in 2011, which is equal to what it spent in 2010. It will put…