BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) Receives C$40.88 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$40.88.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of BCE from C$45.00 to C$42.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays lowered shares of BCE from an “equal weight” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from C$41.00 to C$30.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of BCE from C$41.00 to C$35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. TD Securities dropped their price target on BCE from C$32.00 to C$31.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on BCE from C$41.00 to C$37.50 in a research note on Friday, November 8th.

BCE Stock Down 6.1 %

Shares of TSE:BCE opened at C$33.70 on Tuesday. BCE has a fifty-two week low of C$31.43 and a fifty-two week high of C$53.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is C$34.61 and its 200 day moving average price is C$41.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 197.43. The stock has a market cap of C$30.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.48.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported C$0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.77 by C($0.02). BCE had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 8.75%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BCE will post 3.1120864 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a $0.9975 dividend. This represents a $3.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.84%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.