BCE (TSE:BCE) PT Lowered to C$46.00 at Barclays

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) had its price target lowered by Barclays from C$48.00 to C$46.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, BayStreet.CA reports.

BCE has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of BCE from C$46.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of BCE from C$50.00 to C$52.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Desjardins upped their price target 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. National Bankshares downgraded shares of BCE from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from C$52.00 to C$48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of BCE from C$48.00 to C$51.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of C$50.36.

BCE Trading Up 0.6 %

BCE stock opened at C$45.45 on Wednesday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is C$47.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$46.03. BCE has a 52 week low of C$42.58 and a 52 week high of C$56.18. The company has a market capitalization of C$41.46 billion, a PE ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.48.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported C$0.78 EPS 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 business had revenue of C$6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$6.07 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE will post 3.0598958 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.998 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.78%. BCE’s payout ratio 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.