BCE (TSE:BCE) Price Target Raised to C$51.00 at Desjardins

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) had its target price raised by Desjardins from C$48.00 to C$51.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on BCE. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on BCE from C$46.00 to C$47.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on BCE from C$53.00 to C$50.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. National Bankshares reduced their price objective on BCE from C$52.00 to C$50.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on BCE from C$54.00 to C$51.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on BCE from C$46.00 to C$47.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of C$51.08.

BCE Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of TSE BCE opened at C$47.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 184.91, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.61. The business’s 50 day moving average price is C$45.35 and its 200-day moving average price is C$47.39. BCE has a fifty-two week low of C$42.58 and a fifty-two week high of C$58.10. The company has a market cap of C$43.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.79, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.44.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported C$0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of C$0.72. BCE had a return on equity of 9.36% and a net margin of 7.88%. The firm had revenue of C$6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$6.09 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BCE will post 3.0157895 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.998 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.39%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 207.81%.

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.