BCE (TSE:BCE) Upgraded to Outperform at CIBC

CIBC upgraded shares of BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, BayStreet.CA reports.

BCE has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of BCE from C$57.00 to C$54.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on BCE from C$52.00 to C$48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of BCE from C$57.00 to C$55.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of BCE from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and dropped their target price for the stock from C$54.00 to C$46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, National Bankshares decreased their price target on shares of BCE from C$55.00 to C$53.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of C$52.48.

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock opened at C$45.46 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$47.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$51.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.98, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of C$41.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.44. BCE has a one year low of C$43.96 and a one year high of C$65.66.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported C$0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.73 by C$0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 9.17%. The company had revenue of C$6.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$6.48 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BCE will post 3.0377747 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a $0.998 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.97. This represents a $3.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.78%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 175.00%.

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.