BCE Inc. (BCE) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.74 on July 15th

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 2nd, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of 0.738 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th.

BCE has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. BCE has a payout ratio of 126.1% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect BCE to earn $2.34 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $2.90 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 123.9%.

BCE Stock Up 1.8 %

BCE stock opened at $33.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $30.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. BCE has a 52 week low of $31.82 and a 52 week high of $48.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.53.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. BCE had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 17.13%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.82 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BCE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target (down from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Argus lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

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.