BCE (TSE:BCE) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) released its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported C$0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of C$6.18 billion for the quarter. BCE had a net margin of 26.07% and a return on equity of 29.69%.

BCE Stock Down 0.6%

BCE opened at C$31.67 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of C$29.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.30. BCE has a one year low of C$29.66 and a one year high of C$36.25. The company has a fifty day moving average price of C$31.75 and a 200-day moving average price of C$33.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 183.90, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

BCE Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. BCE’s payout ratio is 25.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BCE shares. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of BCE from C$35.00 to C$33.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. TD Securities upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Scotia boosted their target price on BCE from C$39.00 to C$40.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Desjardins cut their target price on BCE from C$43.50 to C$41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a C$37.00 price target on shares of BCE and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$37.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BCE news, insider Thierry Chaumont sold 4,110 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$33.59, for a total value of C$138,054.90. Also, Director Louis Vachon purchased 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$33.39 per share, with a total value of C$500,850.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 75,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$2,504,250. The trade was a 25.00% increase in their position. Insiders sold a total of 11,255 shares of company stock worth $376,464 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

About BCE

Bell Media is Canada’s leading media and entertainment company with a portfolio of assets in premium video, audio, out-of-home advertising, and digital media. This includes Canada’s most-watched television network, CTV; the largest Canadian-owned video streamer, Crave, with a premium add-on to include STARZ; a powerful suite of specialty channels; the most-trusted news brand, CTV News; Canada’s cross-platform sports leaders, TSN and RDS; leading out-of-home advertising network, Astral; Québec’s fast-growing conventional French-language network, Noovo; the country’s leading radio and podcast app, iHeartRadio Canada; and a range of award-winning original productions, brands, and services.