National Bank Financial Downgrades BCE (TSE:BCE) to Hold

National Bank Financial lowered shares of BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday morning, Zacks.com reports. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for BCE’s Q3 2024 earnings at $0.75 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $2.98 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $3.02 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on BCE from C$51.00 to C$53.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of BCE from C$48.00 to C$51.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of BCE from C$46.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of BCE from C$50.00 to C$52.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, National Bankshares lowered BCE from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and cut their price target for the company from C$52.00 to C$48.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BCE presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of C$51.00.

BCE Trading Down 1.3 %

TSE BCE opened at C$45.88 on Monday. BCE has a 1 year low of C$42.58 and a 1 year high of C$56.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 197.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of C$41.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average of C$47.23 and a 200 day moving average of C$46.06.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported C$0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of C$6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$6.07 billion. Research analysts forecast that BCE will post 3.0598958 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $3.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend 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.