BCE (TSE:BCE) Price Target Cut to C$41.00 by Analysts at Desjardins

Key Points

• Desjardins lowered BCE’s price target to C$41 from C$43 but maintained a “buy” rating, implying approximately 45% upside from the stock’s C$28.19 price.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: MarketBeat’s consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of C$37.31.
• BCE shares rose 0.6% to C$28.19, near their 52-week low, while the company reported quarterly EPS of C$0.65 and revenue of C$6.18 billion.

BCE (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE had its price target reduced by stock analysts at Desjardins from C$43.00 to C$41.00 in a report released on Wednesday, BayStreet reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Desjardins' target price would indicate a potential upside of 45.44% from the stock's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on BCE. Raymond James Financial set a C$37.00 target price on shares of BCE and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. TD Securities raised shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. National Bank Financial dropped their price objective on shares of BCE from C$38.00 to C$36.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley raised 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 report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on BCE from C$35.00 to C$33.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of C$37.31.

BCE Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of TSE BCE traded up C$0.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching C$28.19. The company had a trading volume of 2,475,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,225,634. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of C$31.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$32.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.06. BCE has a 52-week low of C$27.75 and a 52-week high of C$36.25. The stock has a market cap of C$26.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.18, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.37.

BCE (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported C$0.65 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$6.18 billion for the quarter. BCE had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 25.89%. Sell-side analysts predict that BCE will post 3.1120864 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BCE

In other news, Director Louis Vachon bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$30.63 per share, with a total value of C$306,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$3,063,000. The trade was a 11.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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