BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• BCE has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 10 brokerages, with seven buy ratings, two holds, and one strong buy. The average 12-month price target is C$37.30.
• Several analysts recently adjusted their views, including TD upgrading BCE to buy, while others such as Canaccord Genuity and RBC lowered their price targets. These moves reflect mixed but generally positive sentiment around the stock.
• BCE reported quarterly EPS of C$0.63 on revenue of C$6.17 billion and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4375 per share, implying an annual yield of 5.8%. Insider selling was also noted over the past 90 days.

Shares of BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$37.30.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BCE shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of BCE from C$35.00 to C$33.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. TD upgraded BCE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a C$37.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Desjardins reduced their price objective on BCE from C$41.50 to C$41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of BCE from C$41.00 to C$39.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped 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.

BCE Trading Up 0.4%

TSE:BCE opened at C$30.40 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 183.90, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.43. BCE has a one year low of C$29.66 and a one year high of C$36.25. The company has a market cap of C$28.35 billion, a PE ratio of 4.49, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of C$32.85 and a 200-day moving average of C$33.66.

BCE (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C$0.63 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$6.17 billion for the quarter. BCE had a net margin of 26.07% and a return on equity of 29.69%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BCE will post 3.1120864 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.85%.

Insider Transactions at BCE

In other BCE news, insider Karine Moses sold 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$33.25, for a total transaction of C$116,375.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 3,712 shares of the company's stock, valued at C$123,424. The trade was a 48.53% decrease in their position. Also, insider Thierry Chaumont sold 4,110 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$33.59, for a total value of C$138,054.90. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,255 shares of company stock valued at $376,464. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.