Brokerages Set BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) PT at C$52.15

Shares of BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$52.15.

Several research firms have issued reports on BCE. Cormark dropped their price objective on BCE from C$58.00 to C$53.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of BCE from C$48.00 to C$47.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays decreased their price target on BCE from C$52.00 to C$48.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Desjardins cut their price objective on BCE from C$58.00 to C$55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on BCE from C$57.00 to C$55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE opened at C$45.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of C$41.88 billion, a PE ratio of 23.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s fifty day moving average price is C$46.24 and its 200 day moving average price is C$50.74. BCE has a one year low of C$43.96 and a one year high of C$64.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 184.91, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported C$0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.73 by C$0.03. BCE had a net margin of 7.88% and a return on equity of 9.36%. The firm had revenue of C$6.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$6.48 billion. As a group, analysts expect that BCE will post 3.0296638 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.998 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $3.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.70%. BCE’s payout ratio is 206.74%.

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.