BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given 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$50.83.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BCE. National Bankshares downgraded shares of BCE from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from C$52.00 to C$48.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Cormark lowered their target price on BCE from C$53.00 to C$52.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. TD Securities raised their price target on BCE from C$47.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on BCE from C$50.00 to C$52.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Desjardins increased their target price on BCE from C$48.00 to C$51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE stock opened at C$47.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of C$47.22 and a 200 day moving average price of C$46.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 197.43. BCE has a 52 week low of C$42.58 and a 52 week 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported C$0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.80 by C($0.02). BCE had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 8.75%. The business had revenue of C$6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$6.07 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that BCE will post 2.991195 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.998 per share. This represents a $3.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.