RE: Question?HSE? FTS?
BCE I know. No need to explain. At a share price of C$27.74, the yield is 6.27% based on the next quarterly dividend. The trailing P/E ratio is approximately 16.
The nominal value of the share price is or should be irrelevant. Market capitalization or better yet Enterprise Value (market cap + debt) relative to cash flow and earnings matter.
I don't know the other companies. Here are some things to look at:
1) How competitive is the sector? Translation, how well can profits be protected? Economists talk of barriers to entry. Some finance folks talk about the company moat. That metaphor asks how well is the firm protected from profit-destroying competition.
2) Are dividends growing?
3) What are the dividend pay-out ratios?
Peter Brieger commented BCE the other day on BNN. He still likes it but finds the C$33 share target price suggested by some to be optimistic. At C$33/share, the current yield would be 5.27%.
Starting with a budget of $5,000, I would pick the two best companies and buy those. Or figure out which pair of companies are the least correlated in terms of likely outcomes.
What is your EXIT STRATEGY? Don't have one? Yes you need to figure one out. Under what circumstances would you sell some or all of the stock? Even the pros don't always do this but you should ideally have the exit strategy in place before buying the stock.
Disclosure: Still overweight in BCE, still bullish on the Canadian telcomm sector, about ~2/5 cash right now--colour me nervous and indecisive--but regard BCE and similar as almost as good as cash.
Hope this helps -TR