BCE (NYSE:BCE) Issues Earnings Results

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19, Briefing.com reports. BCE had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 8.39%. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. BCE updated its FY 2024 guidance to 2.180-2.300 EPS.

BCE Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE BCE traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $34.33. The company had a trading volume of 2,894,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,101,363. The stock has a market cap of $31.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.57. BCE has a one year low of $31.13 and a one year high of $42.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $33.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.729 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.49%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 201.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. CIBC upgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.33.

About BCE

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.