BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$52.15.

BCE has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of BCE from C$54.00 to C$47.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Desjardins lowered their price objective on BCE from C$58.00 to C$55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. CIBC upgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on BCE from C$57.00 to C$55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on BCE from C$53.25 to C$53.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 3rd.

BCE Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of TSE BCE opened at C$46.23 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of C$46.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$50.71. BCE has a 52-week low of C$43.96 and a 52-week high of C$64.48. The stock has a market cap of C$42.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 184.91, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.61.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported C$0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.73 by C$0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 9.36% and a net margin of 7.88%. 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, equities analysts forecast that BCE will post 3.0296638 EPS for the current year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.998 dividend. This represents a $3.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 13th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 206.74%.

About BCE

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.