The more markets rise, the more income investors should consider high-yielding stocks. Three of those companies posted results recently.
Tobacco firm Altria (MO) posted $1.18 a share in earnings per share. For 2024, it expects to post an adjusted diluted EPS of $5.00 to $5.15. It already maximized shareholder returns when it repurchased $1 billion in shares and 6.5 million shares in its fourth quarter. It authorized the repurchase of another $1 billion through Dec. 31, 2024.
MO shares pay a dividend of $3.92 annually, yielding 9.77%.
British American Tobacco (BTA) recovered from some of its drop last Dec. 2023, when the firm took an unexpected write-down. In its last quarter, BAT posted revenue falling by 1.3%. For 2024, it lowered its global tobacco industry volume expectations. This will translate to organic growth in the low single-digit percentage. It expects an operating cash flow conversion of over 90%. In addition, BAT will post an adjusted net debt/adjusted EBITDA of around 2.5 times.
In Canada, telecom giant BCE posted sharply lower revenue when advertising revenue from Bell Media fell. It also cut its capital expenditure for the year ahead. The firm expects free cash flow growth of negative 3% to negative 11%. Still, BCE hiked its dividend by 3.1% to CAD 0.9675 a share. The yield is 7.66% at a closing price of CAD 50.52.
