Royal Bank of Canada Cuts BCE (TSE:BCE) Price Target to C$41.00

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) had its target price decreased by Royal Bank of Canada from C$45.00 to C$41.00 in a report published on Wednesday,BayStreet.CA reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on BCE. TD Securities reduced their price objective on BCE from C$39.00 to C$37.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of BCE from C$46.00 to C$41.00 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of BCE from C$45.00 to C$42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of BCE from C$47.00 to C$41.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, National Bank Financial cut BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$43.38.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at C$33.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$30.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.48, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$39.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$44.03. BCE has a 12 month low of C$32.95 and a 12 month high of C$56.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 197.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.9975 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.99%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 185.58%.

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.