BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) Receives C$50.83 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$51.00.

BCE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on BCE from C$48.00 to C$51.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Cormark lowered their target price on shares of BCE from C$53.00 to C$52.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on BCE from C$50.00 to C$52.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. National Bankshares cut BCE from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from C$52.00 to C$48.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on BCE from C$51.00 to C$53.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th.

BCE Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of TSE:BCE opened at C$45.76 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 197.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.65. BCE has a 52-week low of C$42.58 and a 52-week high of C$56.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of C$47.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$46.05. The company has a market capitalization of C$41.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.48.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported C$0.78 EPS 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 company had revenue of C$6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$6.07 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that BCE will post 3.0598958 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.998 per share. This represents a $3.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 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.