BCE (TSE:BCE) Rating Lowered to Sector Perform at National Bankshares

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) was downgraded by stock analysts at National Bankshares from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have a C$48.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of C$52.00. National Bankshares’ target price suggests a potential upside of 2.35% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of BCE from C$47.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Desjardins increased their price target on BCE from C$48.00 to C$51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on BCE from C$51.00 to C$53.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on BCE from C$48.00 to C$51.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$50.83.

BCE Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of TSE BCE traded down C$0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching C$46.90. The company had a trading volume of 926,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,951,448. The stock has a fifty day moving average of C$47.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$46.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 197.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of C$42.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.48. BCE has a 12-month low of C$42.58 and a 12-month high of C$56.18.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of C$6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$6.07 billion. BCE had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 10.63%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BCE will post 2.991195 EPS for the current year.

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.