BCE (TSE:BCE) Given New C$36.50 Price Target at Scotiabank

Key Points

• Scotiabank lowered BCE’s price target from C$40.00 to C$36.50 while maintaining a “sector outperform” rating, implying roughly 29.75% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with 10 Buy ratings and three Holds; BCE has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average target price of C$37.12.
• BCE shares rose 0.5% to C$28.13, while director Louis Vachon purchased 10,000 shares for approximately C$306,300, increasing his position by 11.11%.

BCE (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE had its price target dropped by equities researchers at Scotiabank from C$40.00 to C$36.50 in a research note issued on Tuesday, BayStreet reports. The firm currently has a "sector outperform" rating on the stock. Scotiabank's price target would indicate a potential upside of 29.75% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on BCE. TD increased their target price on BCE from C$37.00 to C$40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. National Bank Financial dropped their price target on shares of BCE from C$38.00 to C$36.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of BCE from C$39.00 to C$36.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reduced their price objective on shares of BCE from C$39.00 to C$38.00 and set an "outperformer" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of BCE from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the company from C$31.00 to C$35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of C$37.12.

BCE Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of TSE:BCE traded up C$0.13 during trading on Tuesday, hitting C$28.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,801,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,299,189. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.06, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.73. BCE has a fifty-two week low of C$26.66 and a fifty-two week high of C$36.25. The stock's 50-day moving average price is C$30.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$31.85. The company has a market capitalization of C$26.23 billion, a PE ratio of 4.17, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.37.

BCE (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported C$0.65 earnings per share for the quarter. BCE had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 25.89%. The firm had revenue of C$6.18 billion during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BCE will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Louis Vachon acquired 10,000 shares of BCE stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$30.63 per share, for a total transaction of C$306,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 100,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at C$3,063,000. This trade represents a 11.11% increase in their position. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

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.

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