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

Key Points

• BCE has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 13 analysts, including eight buys, four holds and one strong buy. The average 12-month price target is C$37.31.
• BCE reported quarterly revenue of C$6.18 billion and earnings of C$0.65 per share; its shares opened at C$31.67, near the lower end of their 52-week range.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4375, equivalent to $1.75 annually and a 5.5% yield. Recent insider activity was mixed, with a director purchasing 15,000 shares while other insiders sold shares.

Shares of BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$37.31.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. 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 report on Friday, July 10th. TD raised shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a C$37.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Desjardins lowered their price objective on shares of BCE from C$43.50 to C$41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of BCE from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from C$31.00 to C$35.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, TD Securities raised shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st.

BCE Trading Down 0.6%

TSE BCE opened at C$31.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of C$29.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.68, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 183.90, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock's 50-day moving average is C$31.75 and its 200-day moving average is C$33.40. BCE has a one year low of C$29.66 and a one year high of C$36.25.

BCE (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported C$0.65 earnings per share for the quarter. BCE had a return on equity of 29.69% and a net margin of 26.07%.The business had revenue of C$6.18 billion for the quarter. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE will post 3.1120864 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th were paid a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.5%. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.85%.

Insider Transactions at BCE

In other news, Director Louis Vachon acquired 15,000 shares of BCE stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$33.39 per share, with a total value of C$500,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 75,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$2,504,250. This represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Karine Moses sold 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$33.25, for a total value of C$116,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,712 shares of the company's stock, valued at C$123,424. This represents a 48.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,255 shares of company stock valued at $376,464. 0.02% of the stock is currently 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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