BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$50.83.

Several brokerages recently commented on BCE. Desjardins boosted their price objective on shares of BCE from C$48.00 to C$51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on BCE from C$50.00 to C$52.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on BCE from C$46.00 to C$47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Cormark lowered their price target on BCE from C$53.00 to C$52.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, National Bankshares cut shares of BCE from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from C$52.00 to C$48.00 in a research report on Tuesday.

BCE Trading Down 0.0 %

TSE BCE opened at C$47.00 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 197.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of C$47.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$46.08. BCE has a 12 month low of C$42.58 and a 12 month high of C$56.18. The firm has a market capitalization of C$42.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.86, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.48.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported C$0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.80 by C($0.02). BCE had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The company had revenue of C$6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$6.07 billion. On average, analysts predict that BCE will post 2.991195 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.998 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.49%. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 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.