BCE (TSE:BCE) Stock Price Target Lowered at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

Key Points

• Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered BCE’s price target to C$38 from C$39 while maintaining an “outperformer” rating, implying approximately 34% upside from the current price.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall: BCE has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, with nine Buy ratings and four Holds, and an average price target of C$37.38.
• BCE shares traded at C$28.36, near their 52-week low of C$27.75 and below their 50- and 200-day moving averages. Director Louis Vachon recently purchased 10,000 shares for approximately C$306,300.

BCE (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE had its price objective cut by analysts at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from C$39.00 to C$38.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, BayStreet reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperformer" rating on the stock. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce's target price points to a potential upside of 33.99% from the stock's current price.

BCE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of BCE from C$39.00 to C$36.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. National Bank Financial reduced their price objective on BCE from C$38.00 to C$36.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley raised BCE from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from C$31.00 to C$35.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Scotia lifted their price target on BCE from C$39.00 to C$40.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a C$37.00 price target on BCE and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, BCE presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of C$37.38.

BCE Price Performance

TSE BCE traded up C$0.17 during trading on Thursday, hitting C$28.36. 1,863,767 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,227,276. The company has a market cap of C$26.45 billion, a PE ratio of 4.21, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.37. 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 fifty-two week low of C$27.75 and a fifty-two week high of C$36.25. The stock's 50 day moving average price is C$31.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$32.27.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Louis Vachon acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$30.63 per share, for a total transaction of C$306,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 100,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at C$3,063,000. The trade was a 11.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company 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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