BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Plans $0.44 Dividend

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE declared a dividend on Saturday, June 14th, investing.com reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of 0.4375 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a yield of 5.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th.

BCE has a dividend payout ratio of 67.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect BCE to earn $1.94 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.27 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.5%.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE:BCE traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $22.81. 2,596,148 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,994,138. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 190.08, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. BCE has a 1 year low of $20.28 and a 1 year high of $36.17.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.92 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. Analysts anticipate that BCE will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of BCE

An institutional investor recently raised its position in BCE stock. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 36.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 278,745 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 75,053 shares during the quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC's holdings in BCE were worth $6,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BCE has been the topic of several analyst reports. National Bank Financial upgraded BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. National Bankshares reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BCE has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.67.

BCE Company Profile

BCE Inc, a communications company, provides wireless, wireline, Internet, and television (TV) services to residential, business, and wholesale customers in Canada. The company operates through two segments, Bell Communication and Technology Services, and Bell Media. The Bell Communication and Technology Services segment provides wireless products and services including mobile data and voice plans and devices; wireline products and services comprising data, including internet access, internet protocol television, cloud-based services, and business solutions, as well as voice, and other communication services and products; and satellite TV and connectivity services for residential, small and medium-sized business, government, and large enterprise customers.