BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Increases Dividend to $0.74 Per Share

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th,Zacks Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of 0.737 per share by the utilities provider on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73.

BCE has raised its dividend by an average of 4.9% annually over the last three years. BCE has a dividend payout ratio of 131.4% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect BCE to earn $2.23 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $2.89 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 129.6%.

BCE Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BCE traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $28.38. 643,311 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,270,992. The company has a market cap of $25.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.62. BCE has a 12 month low of $27.29 and a 12 month high of $41.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $33.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.64.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on BCE. Edward Jones downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.33.

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.