BCE (TSE:BCE) Raised to Buy at Canaccord Genuity Group

Key Points

• Canaccord Genuity upgraded BCE from “hold” to “buy” and set a C$32.00 price target, implying 14.7% upside from the reported C$27.90 price.
• BCE has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, with 10 analysts rating it Buy and three rating it Hold; the consensus target price is C$37.31.
• The stock rose 4.1% to C$27.90 in Tuesday trading. Director Louis Vachon also purchased 10,000 shares worth approximately C$306,300 in September.

BCE (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE was upgraded by research analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, BayStreet reports. The firm presently has a C$32.00 price target on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group's target price would indicate a potential upside of 14.70% from the company's current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on BCE. TD Securities raised BCE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of BCE from C$39.00 to C$36.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial set a C$37.00 target price on shares of BCE and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. TD boosted their target price on shares of BCE from C$37.00 to C$40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce decreased their target price on shares of BCE from C$39.00 to C$38.00 and set an "outperformer" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of C$37.31.

BCE Trading Up 4.1%

TSE BCE traded up C$1.10 on Tuesday, hitting C$27.90. 3,929,244 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,273,811. BCE has a 52-week low of C$26.66 and a 52-week high of C$36.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.06, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of C$26.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.37. The company's 50-day moving average price is C$31.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$32.10.

BCE (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported C$0.65 EPS for the quarter. BCE had a net margin of 25.89% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business had revenue of C$6.18 billion during the quarter. Research analysts predict that BCE will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BCE news, Director Louis Vachon bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the director directly owned 100,000 shares in the company, valued at C$3,063,000. The trade was a 11.11% increase in their position. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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