BCE (TSE:BCE) Price Target Cut to C$48.00 by Analysts at Barclays

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) had its target price cut by Barclays from C$52.00 to C$48.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, BayStreet.CA reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of BCE from C$54.00 to C$47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of BCE from C$57.00 to C$55.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of BCE from C$57.25 to C$55.50 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. TD Securities decreased their target price on shares of BCE from C$55.00 to C$51.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, CIBC decreased their target price on shares of BCE from C$54.00 to C$52.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of C$53.81.

BCE Stock Performance

TSE BCE opened at C$44.23 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.98, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.43. BCE has a 1 year low of C$43.96 and a 1 year high of C$65.66. The company has a market capitalization of C$40.35 billion, a PE ratio of 19.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of C$48.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$51.49.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported C$0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.73 by C$0.03. BCE had a net margin of 9.17% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The company had revenue of C$6.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$6.48 billion. As a group, analysts expect that BCE will post 3.0448065 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.998 per share. This represents a $3.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.03%. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.97. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 175.00%.

BCE Company Profile

BCE Inc, a communications company, provides wireless, wireline, Internet, and television (TV) services to residential, business, and wholesale customers in Canada. The company operates through two segments, Bell Communication and Technology Services, and Bell Media. The Bell Communication and Technology Services segment provides wireless products and services including mobile data and voice plans and devices; wireline products and services comprising data, including internet access, internet protocol television, cloud-based services, and business solutions, as well as voice, and other communication services and products; and satellite TV and connectivity services for residential, small and medium-sized business, government, and large enterprise customers.