Investment Q&A

Q: Like many others, I’m very frustrated with the performance of both Bell and Telus. (Bell is held in a non-registered account so could be a tax-loss candidate. Unfortunately Telus is held in my RRIF.)

Due to the decline in both BCE and T, Portfolio Analytics indicates that I'm underweight in the Telecom sector - not surprising! With such headwinds in this sector, do you see the need to replace Bell with Quebecor to stay in the same sector, or should I accept that being underweight can be a good thing?

The reason I’m considering QBR.B is because we recently switched from Bell to Freedom for our mobile phones. As well, their chart looks a lot better than either Bell or Telus.

Would you sell BCE to buy QBR.B or would you use the proceeds to buy into a sector with some tailwinds?

What sector(s) do you feel have tailwinds going forward?

Your comments are valued greatly. Please deduct as many questions as you see fit.

Q: I bought my first 100 shares of BCE on Oct 22, 2014 at $47.79. Ten (10!) years later it is $38.94/share. I estimate that over those 10 years I have received $32.34 in dividends - so that helps. But holding a stock whose share price is down 20% after 10 years is not something to be proud of.

I am torn with what to do with my BCE shares. Sell all, sell half, buy more? I am trying to maintain a diversified portfolio by having exposure to the Telecom Sector, and I am not interested in replacing BCE with Telus, Rogers, etc. I already own Telus, and am down on that as well.

Telecom stocks make up about 7% of my portfolio today (my target was 8%), so if I sold BCE my % in Telecom stocks would decrease further.

If I sold any or all of my BCE, the first choice would be to replace it with something in the Telecom sector from the US (not Canada!) to keep it from falling too far away from my target of 8%. What US telecom stocks would you suggest that are performing better than BCE, T? The Telecom sector has NOT been the place to be this year, and the future does not look any better, so it is hard to maintain my sector diversification target.

For a moderate growth investor with a medium risk tolerance, what % of the portfolio would you suggest be in Telecom stocks? Is an 8% target too high?

Q: rating

Q: Given the news today and the share drop, would you be a buyer of Bell today?

Q: What are your thoughts on the c rating downgrade ? Dividends are currently over 100% of FCF. How do they maintain the div under this situation

Q: I suppose you are now used to your subscribers thinking you have the answer to absolutely everything financial and often otherwise. It's partially your own fault because you do such a good job of replying to the questions. So let me join the club of way-out speculators seeking your views on this headline in the Financail Post today:

CRTC expands ruling to allow smaller internet providers access to Bell and Telus fibre networks

Can you put your gage on this throbbing issue and speculate on the financial impact on the two internet service providers?

Many thanks.

Q: Hi team. I have ZWU as my main utilities holding @ 11% and I also have positions in BCE and ENB on their own. ZWU has both BCE and ENB in their top 10 holdings. In your opinion am I participating in "di-worsification" by holding BCE and ENB outside of ZWU. Would you sell both BCE and ENB and fold the funds back into ZWU? I'm ok letting ZWU go to +/- 15% of my portfolio. Appreciate your thoughts. Bill.

Q: Seeing as BCE is down, would it make sense to reduce BCE and enter into RCI.A and QBR.A. ? They seem more cyclical and are down as well. Or ride out BCE?

Q: We always heard Buy Low Sell high. Will this apply to these two companies , being at their 5 yr. low? If they were to cut their dividend by 30%, their dividend will still be 4% +, and the price will drop even further. Would then be another time to scoop up some more?

Q: I like ATS but am down a bit over the past couple of years. PA suggests I boost my US positions. Im not optimistic about Canada's medium term growth prospects when compared to the US so this might be a good time to make some portfolio adjustments. I'm considering selling ATS and buying a US industrial, perhaps URI. Your thoughts, please. In the same vein, I am looking at Canada's telecom sector and I'm down in both BCE and T. Of course, both pay hopefully sustainable dividends. The US telco sector doesn't look much better. I'm considering bailing on the telcos and adding QCOM as a quasi-surrogate. I know it's rated as tech but telco's are all giving me headaches. Your thoughts please. Al

Q: Hello team,

I have all four of these in my income portfolio. The telco's for the divs and Park Lawn and BEP for income and growth. All four are down substantially (20-30%) from purchase in fall of 2022. The news out on BCE is less than flattering, while there has not beeen much on PLC. The other two I assume are biding their time, and should/might rerate with a drop in interest rates. I am a long term buy and hold and am quite satisfied with the income aspect of my portfolio, but my finger keeps getting itchy each time I see a drop in SP, for no reason at all.

My question is, will these Companies need rate cuts in order to rerate, or is their business that bad that their SP continues to stagnate. I know the other shoe about the economy improving, but that applies to all stocks, and have taken that into consideration.

Thanks for the service, I'd be lost without it. My former finacial advisor, not such a big fan!

Q: Hello, if one had to sell one of the above stocks which one would it be and why, my time frame is 2-3 years.

Thank you

Q: A dividend account, BCE down 16,%, BIP.Un down 14.5%, BEPC down 23%, DOO down 23% as well. Also own BN and BAM. Brookfield entities are 17% of the portfolio.
Do I sell my losers, knowing they're suffering from higher interest rates or simply stay patient?
Do you see concentration risk ? How high would you let the Brookfield entities run? I think DOO is a good firm but it could go. Please deduct questions as you see fit. Thank you in advance. David

Q: Hello - I am an income investor. My view has been to construct my portfolio with companies that pay growing dividends as a way to offset inflation. With BCE’s announcement of reduced expected dividend growth in the future I am considering shifting that portion of my portfolio somewhere else. Can you please provide the stated expected ranges of dividend growth (as a %) of these companies? Please take all the credits you wish. Thank you

Q: I purchased BCE awhile back for its very good dividend and some modest growth, thinking it was more “bond” like.
Now with the recent news I am not so sure this is the case. I am overweight in it and wondering what to do with it, whether to keep it and collect the dividend, or if it would be better to sell it or at least some of it.
I could use the loss to offset some of my gains I guess, but I am unsure what is the best move. I don’t need the money, so would probably reinvest the money in another stock.
I am asking for your advice on this investment.
Thanks so much for your past service, it has always been most helpful.

Q: I have these stocks in my TFSA and most are doing okay. I have some extra cash to use to either beef up or buy another stock or ETF. I’m an income investor with also an interest in growth. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. I appreciate your work immensely.

Q: BCE dividend payout ratio is 120% and Telus is not far behind. How is this sustainable? Isn't this a warning sign?

Q: Hi
I'm trying to build a concentrated portfolio of Canadian dividend payers. If I want to add a few more names for diversification and safe/good yield, what others would you recommend?
Thanks,
Carlo

Q: Non registered account : I sold a majority of stocks in 2022-2023 in order to convert them into a diversified dividend ETFs portfolio.I though intend to only keep" safe stocks for long term".Please could you rank them in this "safety perspective" , a "hold,buy, or sell" comment would be greatly appreciated,considering the fact that in this case,selling a stock would result in "buying an ETF in the same sector" .Many Thanks for your excellent website ,J-Y

Q: I like the high dividend paying shares of NYMT. Do you see any reason for a Canadian like me to pass on buying it for my RRSP.
After some research it seems to me that I would not pay tax on the dividend payout received in an RRSP. Can you verify that?
Other well respected dividend paying shares such as Bell (BCE) and Enbridge are Canadian companies so I could hold them in my TFSA without any tax implications. I am also noticing CM (Cibc) for long term RRSP or TFSA hold. BNS.TO, Also Telus KEY.To, Hydro one I won't mention Rogerw because I just don't like the way they do business. VDY.To. ZWP.TO covered call ETF. ZWE.TO is another one.
looking to get creative and make my own portfolio but not to proud to buy an ETF for income. I know you have an income portfolio I appreciate that and will look through it again. Looking for feedback for this strategy. I am a 50 year old Canadian citizen living in Canada looking for long term holdings.
Happy New Year - all the best.