BCE Inc. (TSX:BCE)(NYSE:BCE) has been having a rough year so far with its share price sliding 7% since January. However, BCE’s prospects haven’t gotten any worse, and it’s still a blue-chip stock that offers investors a lot of stability.
Things have been improving for BCE as in the past month as its stock has climbed more than 6%, but it is still nowhere near its highs for the year.
Currently, the stock is paying investors an annual dividend of over 5.3%, and that’s a terrific payout for a stock that isn’t very risky. BCE has the luxury of operating in many different industries and at the same time not facing many competitors.
It’s not a stock that you’ll expect to jump significantly anytime soon, but if you’re looking to lock-in a high-paying yield that could grow over the years, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better option than BCE.
The company has a solid track record for increasing its payouts and I would expect that on its next earnings release BCE will announce another dividend hike. Last year, it increased dividend payments by 5.2% and the year before that they were hiked by 5.1%.
In five years, BCE has increased its payouts by just under 30%, averaging a compounded annual growth rate of 5.3%.
Long term, this is a great stock to add to your portfolio that you can just buy and forget about. Unless we see the Canada Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission open up the industry to foreign competition, which isn’t likely to happen anytime soon, then BCE’s position is as safe as can be and it will remain a market leader for the foreseeable future.
