Cormark Cuts BCE (TSE:BCE) Price Target to C$53.00

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) had its price objective trimmed by Cormark from C$58.00 to C$53.00 in a research note published on Thursday, BayStreet.CA reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. CIBC lowered their price target on BCE from C$54.00 to C$52.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Desjardins lowered their price target on BCE from C$58.00 to C$55.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on BCE from C$55.50 to C$53.25 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. National Bankshares lowered their price target on BCE from C$55.00 to C$53.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on BCE from C$57.00 to C$55.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of C$52.48.

BCE Trading Down 0.2 %

TSE BCE opened at C$44.34 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of C$47.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$51.29. The company has a market capitalization of C$40.45 billion, a PE ratio of 19.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.98. BCE has a 12 month low of C$43.96 and a 12 month high of C$65.66.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported C$0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.73 by C$0.03. The business had revenue of C$6.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$6.48 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 9.17%. Research analysts forecast that BCE will post 3.0377747 EPS for the current year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.998 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.97. This represents a $3.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.00%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 175.00%.

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.