BCE, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of C$0.44 (NYSE:BCE)

Key Points

• BCE, Inc. declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.44, scheduled for distribution on October 15th to stockholders of record as of September 15th, representing a 7.2% yield.
• The company reported Q2 earnings per share of $0.46, falling short of expectations, with a revenue of $4.47 billion against forecasts of $5.91 billion.
• BCE's current payout ratio stands at 67.2%, indicating that the dividend is adequately covered by earnings, with analysts forecasting a future EPS of $1.94.

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.4375 per share by the utilities provider on Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th.

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 Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE BCE traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $23.28. The company had a trading volume of 1,574,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,234,142. BCE has a twelve month low of $20.28 and a twelve month high of $35.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.70 billion, a PE ratio of 80.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.63. The stock's 50 day moving average is $24.37 and its 200-day moving average is $23.03.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 1.96%.The company's revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BCE will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on BCE. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. TD Securities restated a "hold" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 8th. CIBC reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. National Bankshares reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.