BCE (TSE:BCE) Downgraded by National Bank Financial

National Bank Financial lowered shares of BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday, Zacks.com reports. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for BCE’s FY2024 earnings at $2.98 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on BCE. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of BCE from C$48.00 to C$51.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. National Bankshares downgraded shares of BCE from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from C$52.00 to C$48.00 in a research report on Tuesday. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of BCE from C$47.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Desjardins boosted their target price on BCE from C$48.00 to C$51.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Cormark decreased their price target on BCE from C$53.00 to C$52.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of C$51.00.

BCE Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 197.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of C$42.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s 50-day moving average is C$47.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$46.08. BCE has a 12 month low of C$42.58 and a 12 month high of C$56.18.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported C$0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.80 by C($0.02). BCE had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 8.75%. The firm had revenue of C$6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$6.07 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that BCE will post 3.0598958 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.998 dividend. This represents a $3.99 annualized dividend and a yield of ∞. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 185.58%.

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.