BCE (TSE:BCE) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported C$0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of C$6.17 billion for the quarter. BCE had a net margin of 26.40% and a return on equity of 31.99%.

BCE Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of BCE stock opened at C$33.50 on Friday. BCE has a 12 month low of C$29.17 and a 12 month high of C$36.25. The stock has a market cap of C$31.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 179.16. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of C$34.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$33.52.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BCE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Securities downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from C$41.00 to C$37.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Desjardins lowered their price objective on shares of BCE from C$42.00 to C$41.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of BCE from C$33.00 to C$37.00 in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Barclays upgraded shares of BCE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, National Bank Financial increased their price objective on shares of BCE from C$38.00 to C$39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$37.25.

About BCE

Bell Media is Canada’s leading media and entertainment company with a portfolio of assets in premium video, audio, out-of-home advertising, and digital media. This includes Canada’s most-watched television network, CTV; the largest Canadian-owned video streamer, Crave, with a premium add-on to include STARZ; a powerful suite of specialty channels; the most-trusted news brand, CTV News; Canada’s cross-platform sports leaders, TSN and RDS; leading out-of-home advertising network, Astral; Québec’s fast-growing conventional French-language network, Noovo; the country’s leading radio and podcast app, iHeartRadio Canada; and a range of award-winning original productions, brands, and services.