BCE (TSE:BCE) Price Target Cut to C$47.00 by Analysts at TD Securities

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) had its target price lowered by TD Securities from C$48.00 to C$47.00 in a research note released on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on BCE from C$57.00 to C$54.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of BCE from C$52.00 to C$48.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. CIBC upgraded shares of BCE from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of BCE from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and lowered their price target for the company from C$54.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, National Bankshares cut their price objective on BCE from C$55.00 to C$53.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of C$52.15.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at C$45.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 184.91. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of C$46.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$50.78. The company has a market cap of C$41.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.44. BCE has a 12-month low of C$43.96 and a 12-month high of C$64.48.

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

BCE Announces Dividend

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

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.