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

BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE – Get Rating) (NYSE:BCE) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$65.18.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BCE. Cormark decreased their price target on BCE from C$69.00 to C$68.00 in a research note on Friday, May 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on BCE from C$64.00 to C$67.00 in a research report on Friday, May 5th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on BCE from C$64.00 to C$65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on BCE from C$66.75 to C$66.00 in a report on Friday, February 3rd.

BCE Price Performance

BCE opened at C$61.46 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is C$63.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$62.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 151.81, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.43. BCE has a 1 year low of C$55.66 and a 1 year high of C$69.44. The firm has a market cap of C$56.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 15th will be given a $0.9675 dividend. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.97. This represents a $3.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.30%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 137.72%.

BCE Company Profile

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BCE Inc, a telecommunications and media company, provides wireless, wireline, Internet, and television (TV) services to residential, business, and wholesale customers in Canada. The company operates through three segments: Bell Wireless, Bell Wireline, and Bell Media. The Bell Wireless segment offers wireless voice and data communication products and services, as well as consumer electronics products.