Thierry Chaumont Sells 4,110 Shares of BCE (TSE:BCE) Stock

BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) insider Thierry Chaumont sold 4,110 shares of BCE stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$33.59, for a total transaction of C$138,054.90.

BCE Stock Down 1.4%

BCE traded down C$0.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting C$32.72. 4,919,192 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,713,109. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of C$29.17 and a 1-year high of C$36.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average is C$33.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$33.51. The stock has a market cap of C$30.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.83, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 183.90.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C$0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. BCE had a net margin of 26.07% and a return on equity of 29.69%. The firm had revenue of C$6.17 billion for the quarter. Sell-side analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 3.1120864 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were issued a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on BCE. National Bank Financial upped their target price on BCE from C$38.00 to C$39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on BCE from C$38.00 to C$39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on BCE from C$39.50 to C$41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on BCE from C$33.00 to C$37.00 in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of BCE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$37.78.

BCE Company Profile

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.