Why Rogers Communications Inc. Rose Over 1% on Thursday

Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI.B)(NYSE:RCI) released its second-quarter earnings on Thursday, and its stock responded by rising over 1%. Should you buy now? Let’s find out.

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Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI.B)(NYSE:RCI), one of Canada’s largest diversified communications and media companies, released its second-quarter earnings results before the market opened on Thursday, and its stock responded by rising over 1% in the trading session that followed. Let’s take a closer look at the results and the fundamentals of its stock to determine if we should buy into this rally or wait for a better entry point in the trading sessions ahead.

A strong quarter of top- and bottom-line growth

Here’s a chart of 10 of the most notable statistics from Rogers’s three-month period ended on June 30, 2017, compared with the year-ago period:

Metric Q2 2017 Q2 2016 Change
Adjusted net income $514 million $427 million 20.4%
Adjusted basic earnings per share $1.00 $0.83 20.5%
Total revenues $3,592 million $3,455 million 4%
Adjusted operating profit $1,410 million $1,347 million 4.7%
Free cash flow $626 million $495 million 26.5%
Postpaid wireless subscribers 8.71 million 8.35 million 4.3%
Prepaid wireless subscribers 1.69 million 1.61 million 4.8%
Internet subscribers 2.19 million 2.08 million 5.3%
Television subscribers 1.77 million 1.85 million (4.1%)
Phone subscribers 1.1 million 1.09 million 1.2%

What should you do now?

It was a great quarter overall for Rogers, and the results surpassed analysts’ expectations, which called for earnings per share of $0.93 on revenue of $3.59 billion. With this being said, I think the market has reacted correctly by sending its shares higher, and I think it still represents an attractive investment opportunity for the long term for two reasons in particular.

First, it still trades at attractive forward valuations. Rogers’s stock currently trades at 19.7 times fiscal 2017’s estimated earnings per share of $3.29, which seems fair, but it trades at just 18.3 times fiscal 2018’s estimated earnings per share of $3.55, which I think is inexpensive given its estimated 7.4% long-term earnings-growth rate.

Second, it has a great dividend with room for growth. Rogers pays a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, equal to $1.92 per share annually, which gives it a yield of about 3%. The company has also raised its annual dividend payment 11 times in the last 12 years, and I think its very strong growth of free cash flow, including its 34.8% year-over-year increase to $964 million in the first half of fiscal 2017, will allow it to announce another increase in the very near future.

With all of the information provided above in mind, I think Rogers represents an attractive long-term investment opportunity. Foolish investors should take a closer look and consider initiating positions today.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium service or advisor. We’re Motley! Questioning an investing thesis — even one of our own — helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer, so we sometimes publish articles that may not be in line with recommendations, rankings or other content.

Fool contributor Joseph Solitro has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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