BCE (TSE:BCE) Given a C$37.00 Price Target by Raymond James Financial Analysts

Key Points

• Raymond James set a C$37.00 price target on BCE and kept a market perform rating, implying about 19% upside from the prior close.
• Other analysts were mixed but generally positive: BCE’s average rating is now Moderate Buy with an average target price of C$37.50, while recent firms including Scotiabank, RBC, Desjardins, and TD adjusted their targets or ratings.
• BCE shares rose 2.3% to C$31.05, and the company recently reported C$0.63 EPS on C$6.17 billion in revenue for the quarter.

BCE (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE has been given a C$37.00 price objective by equities research analysts at Raymond James Financial in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage presently has a "market perform" rating on the stock. Raymond James Financial's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 19.16% from the company's previous close.

BCE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of BCE from C$41.00 to C$39.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of BCE from C$39.00 to C$36.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Desjardins set a C$43.50 price target on BCE and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. TD upgraded BCE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a C$37.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, TD Securities raised BCE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BCE presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of C$37.50.

BCE Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of BCE stock traded up C$0.71 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting C$31.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,210,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,095,586. BCE has a 52-week low of C$29.66 and a 52-week high of C$36.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of C$32.74 and a 200 day moving average price of C$33.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 183.90, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of C$28.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.59, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.29.

BCE (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C$0.63 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts predict that BCE will post 3.1120864 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BCE news, insider Sean Cohan sold 3,645 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$33.48, for a total transaction of C$122,034.60. Also, insider Thierry Chaumont sold 4,110 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$33.59, for a total value of C$138,054.90. Insiders sold a total of 11,255 shares of company stock valued at $376,464 over the last quarter. 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.

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