BCE (TSE:BCE) Given New C$53.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) had its price target cut by Scotiabank from C$53.25 to C$53.00 in a research note released on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on BCE from C$54.00 to C$47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective 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. CIBC upgraded shares of BCE from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of BCE from C$57.00 to C$54.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, National Bankshares cut their price objective on BCE from C$55.00 to C$53.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of C$52.15.

BCE Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at C$45.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of C$41.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.44. 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$65.11. The company has a 50-day moving average of C$46.52 and a 200 day moving average of C$50.88.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported C$0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.73 by C$0.03. The firm had revenue of C$6.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$6.48 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 9.17%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE will post 3.0377747 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.998 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $3.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.69%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio 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.