BCE (TSE:BCE) Stock Rating Raised to Buy at Canaccord Genuity Group

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) was upgraded by stock analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, BayStreet reports. The firm presently has a C$32.00 price target on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 14.70% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. TD Securities upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Desjardins decreased their price objective on BCE from C$43.00 to C$41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Raymond James Financial set a C$37.00 price objective on BCE and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Scotiabank cut their target price on BCE from C$41.00 to C$39.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut their target price on BCE from C$39.00 to C$38.00 and set an “outperformer” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BCE has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$37.31.

BCE Trading Up 4.1%

Shares of BCE traded up C$1.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting C$27.90. 3,929,244 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,273,811. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.06. BCE has a 1-year low of C$26.66 and a 1-year high of C$36.25. The firm has a market capitalization of C$26.02 billion, a PE ratio of 4.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of C$31.15 and a 200-day moving average of C$32.10.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported C$0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$6.18 billion for the quarter. BCE had a net margin of 25.89% and a return on equity of 27.73%. Analysts expect that BCE will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BCE

In related news, Director Louis Vachon acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of C$30.63 per share, for a total transaction of C$306,300.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$3,063,000. This trade represents a 11.11% increase in their position. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

About BCE

Bell Media is Canada’s leading media and entertainment company with a portfolio of assets in premium video, audio, out-of-home advertising, and digital media. This includes Canada’s most-watched television network, CTV; the largest Canadian-owned video streamer, Crave, with a premium add-on to include STARZ; a powerful suite of specialty channels; the most-trusted news brand, CTV News; Canada’s cross-platform sports leaders, TSN and RDS; leading out-of-home advertising network, Astral; Québec’s fast-growing conventional French-language network, Noovo; the country’s leading radio and podcast app, iHeartRadio Canada; and a range of award-winning original productions, brands, and services.