BCE (TSE:BCE) Price Target Cut to C$53.00

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) had its price target decreased by Scotiabank from C$53.25 to C$53.00 in a research report released on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on BCE from C$57.00 to C$55.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on BCE from C$54.00 to C$47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays reduced their price target on BCE from C$52.00 to C$48.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Desjardins dropped their price objective on shares of BCE from C$58.00 to C$55.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, CIBC raised shares of BCE from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of C$52.15.

BCE Trading Up 1.8 %

TSE BCE opened at C$45.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of C$41.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.81, 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 has a one year low of C$43.96 and a one year high of C$65.11. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is C$46.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$50.82.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported C$0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$0.73 by C$0.03. The business had revenue of C$6.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$6.48 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 9.36% and a net margin of 7.88%. Equities analysts forecast that BCE will post 3.0296638 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.998 per share. This represents a $3.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 13th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 206.74%.

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.