BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the ten analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$52.15.

Several research analysts have weighed in on BCE shares. National Bankshares reduced their target price on BCE from C$53.00 to C$52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on BCE from C$46.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of BCE from C$52.00 to C$48.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Cormark reduced their price target on shares of BCE from C$58.00 to C$53.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of BCE from C$54.00 to C$47.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of TSE:BCE opened at C$44.65 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is C$45.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$49.10. BCE has a fifty-two week low of C$43.96 and a fifty-two week high of C$60.60. The company has a market capitalization of C$40.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 184.91, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported C$0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of C$0.72. The company had revenue of C$6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$6.09 billion. BCE had a net margin of 7.88% and a return on equity of 9.36%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BCE will post 3.0157895 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a $0.998 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.94%. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 207.81%.

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.