BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) to Issue $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 is Monday, June 16th.

BCE has a payout ratio of 67.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research 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 Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE:BCE traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,450,590 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,001,417. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $20.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 183.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.61. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $21.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.02. BCE has a twelve month low of $20.28 and a twelve month high of $36.17.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in BCE stock. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 36.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 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 at the end of the most recent quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

About BCE

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.