Should You Buy BCE Stock for Its 11.7% Dividend Yield?
Should You Buy BCE Stock for Its 11.7% Dividend Yield?
Valued at a market cap of $31 billion, BCE is a Canada-based telecom giant. It provides wireless voice and data communication products and services, internet access, and streaming services, among others.Investing in a portfolio of fundamentally strong dividend stocks should help you generate a stable stream of passive income in addition to long-term capital gains. However, it's crucial to understand that not every dividend-paying stock is a good investment. In fact, most companies that offer an above-average dividend yield to shareholders should be further analyzed to see if the payouts are sustainable across business cycles.
投資於一組合基本面強勁的分紅股票應幫助你產生穩定的被動收入流，以及長期資本收益。然而，理解並非每個支付分紅的股票都是好的投資是至關重要的。事實上，大多數向股東提供高於平均水平分紅收益率的公司都應進一步分析，以查看這些支付在商業週期中是否可持續。
Dividends are not guaranteed and can be revoked anytime, especially if a company's financial metrics deteriorate. So, you need to evaluate if the dividend-paying company generates a stable stream of cash flow, which is enough to sustain operations, service interest payments, and pay shareholders dividends.
分紅並不保證，隨時可能被撤銷，尤其是在公司財務指標惡化的情況下。所以，你需要評估支付分紅的公司是否產生穩定的現金流，足以維持運營、支付利息和向股東支付分紅。
Given these factors, let's see if you should buy BCE (TSX:BCE) stock for its double-digit dividend yield.
考慮到這些因素，讓我們來看看是否應該買入BCE（TSX:BCE）股票，以獲取其雙位數分紅收益率。
Is BCE a good dividend stock to own in 2024?
BCE在2024年是一個好的分紅股票嗎？
Valued at a market cap of $31 billion, BCE is a Canada-based telecom giant. It provides wireless voice and data communication products and services, internet access, and streaming services, among others.
以310億市值估值，BCE是一家總部位於加拿大的電信巨頭。它提供無線語音和數據通信產品和服務、互聯網接入和流媒體服務等。
Earlier this year, I identified Canada's telecom giant BCE as a high-risk investment due to its unsustainable payout ratio. Back in March 2024, BCE offered shareholders a forward yield of 8.8%. However, the company's payout ratio has risen from 105% in 2021 to 111% in 2023.
今年早些時候，我將加拿大電信巨頭BCE識別爲一個高風險投資，因爲其不可持續的支付比率。2024年3月，BCE爲股東提供了8.8%的前瞻性收益率。然而，該公司的支付比率從2021年的105%上升到2023年的111%。
Moreover, a report from Veritas Investment emphasized BCE's payout ratio could surpass 131% in 2024. Now, the payout ratio for BCE is much higher as it excludes capital leases while calculating free cash flows. According to Veritas, capital leases are required to purchase and maintain critical assets such as cell towers and satellites, and they should be included when calculating the free cash flow.
此外，Veritas投資的報告強調BCE的支付比率在2024年可能超過131%。現在，BCE的支付比率更高，因爲在計算自由現金流時不包括資本租賃。根據Veritas，資本租賃是購買和維護關鍵資產（如電芯塔和衛星）所需的，它們在計算自由現金流時應當計算在內。
So, if we adjust for capital leases, BCE's payout ratio is much higher at 155% in 2023, up from 115% in 2020. Alternatively, BCE claimed that its payout ratio would move below 100% next year once its fibre expansion is completed. However, Veritas maintains that the ratio will again surpass the 100% threshold due to capital lease expenses.
因此，如果我們調整資本租賃，BCE在2023年的支付比率高達155%，而2020年爲115%。另外，BCE聲稱其支付比率將在明年其光纖擴張完成後降至100%以下。然而，Veritas認爲，由於資本租賃費用，該比率將再次超過100%的閾值。
Today, BCE stock is down 55% below all-time highs, offering a tasty dividend yield of 11.7%.
今天，BCE股票比歷史最高點下跌了55%，提供了11.7%的豐厚分紅派息收益率。
What's next for the TSX stock?
TSX股票接下來會怎樣？
In the third quarter (Q3) of 2024, BCE saw a 1.8% year-over-year decline in sales. While product revenue fell by 14.3%, mobile phone contracted sales were down 25% compared to the year-ago period. The company's wireless service revenue was also down 1% due to competitive pricing pressures.
在2024年第三季度（Q3），BCE的銷售額同比下降了1.8%。雖然產品營業收入下降了14.3%，但手機合同銷售與去年同期相比下降了25%。公司的無線服務營業收入也因價格競爭壓力下降了1%。
BCE reported a non-cash media asset impairment charge of $2.1 billion as it continues to experience weakness in the traditional advertising market.
BCE報告稱，其媒體資產非現金減值費用爲21億，因爲它繼續在傳統廣告市場中感到疲軟。
With a high net debt leverage ratio of 3.7 times, BCE's weak performance in Q3 meant its operating cash flow fell by 6.1% year over year. It cautioned investors that higher severance and interest payments are impacting cash flow as earnings narrowed by 7.4% in the September quarter from the year-ago period.
由於高達3.7倍的淨債務槓桿比率，BCE在第三季度的表現疲弱，導致其經營現金流同比下降了6.1%。它提醒投資者，較高的裁員和利息支付影響了現金流，九月份的收益與去年同期相比縮減了7.4%。
BCE confirmed it would maintain a dividend of $3.99 per share in 2025. However, dividend growth will be paused until the payout and leverage ratios improve.
BCE確認將在2025年保持每股3.99美元的分紅派息。然而，分紅派息的增長將暫停，直到派息和槓桿比率改善。
Analysts tracking BCE stock expect free cash flow to improve to $3.6 billion in 2026, up from $3.1 billion in 2023. Comparatively, its annual dividend expense is over $3.6 billion, making BCE a high-risk investment right now.
追蹤BCE股票的分析師預計，2026年的自由現金流將改善至36億，從2023年的31億上升。相比之下，其年度分紅派息支出超過36億，這使得BCE目前成爲高風險股票投資。
譯文內容由第三人軟體翻譯。