BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Announces C$0.44 Quarterly Dividend

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.4375 per share by the utilities provider on Thursday, October 15th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th.

BCE has decreased its dividend by an average of 0.2%per year over the last three years. BCE has a payout ratio of 66.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect BCE to earn $1.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.26 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 66.3%.

BCE Stock Up 3.2%

BCE stock traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $22.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,450,004 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,678,488. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.71. BCE has a 52-week low of $20.87 and a 52-week high of $26.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $22.65 and its 200 day moving average is $24.16. The company has a market cap of $21.22 billion, a PE ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.51.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. BCE had a net margin of 25.66% and a return on equity of 13.87%. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.798-1.919 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that BCE will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on BCE shares. TD Securities upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research downgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of BCE from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.00.

About BCE

BCE Inc (NYSE: BCE) is a Canadian communications, media and entertainment company that operates through its primary subsidiaries, including Bell Canada and Bell Media. As a large integrated telecommunications provider, BCE delivers a broad range of connectivity services and content to residential, business and wholesale customers across Canada. The company combines network infrastructure with media assets to offer bundled communications and entertainment solutions.

On the services side, BCE provides fixed-line and wireless voice services, mobile data, high-speed internet, fibre and broadband access, and television services through platforms such as Bell Fibe and Bell TV.