BCE (TSE:BCE) Upgraded by Royal Bank Of Canada to Outperform Rating

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada upgraded BCE from a "sector perform" to an "outperform" rating and raised its target price from C$35.00 to C$47.00, indicating a potential upside of 41.95%.
• BCE's stock rose by 1.1% to C$33.11 during trading hours, with over 4.7 million shares exchanged, exceeding its average trading volume.
• Additionally, BCE is a major player in Canada's wireless and internet service market, controlling around 30% of the market with approximately 10 million customers.

BCE (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE was upgraded by equities researchers at Royal Bank Of Canada from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a C$47.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of C$35.00. Royal Bank Of Canada's price target indicates a potential upside of 41.95% from the stock's previous close.

BCE has been the subject of several other research reports. National Bankshares set a C$35.00 target price on shares of BCE and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. CIBC raised their target price on shares of BCE from C$35.00 to C$36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of BCE from C$51.00 to C$35.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of BCE from C$39.50 to C$41.50 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of C$36.17.

BCE Stock Up 1.1%

BCE traded up C$0.36 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting C$33.11. 4,791,173 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,693,308. BCE has a 12-month low of C$28.73 and a 12-month high of C$46.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of C$33.44 and a 200 day moving average of C$31.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 226.73. The firm has a market cap of C$30.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.57.

BCE Company Profile

BCE is both a wireless and internet service provider, offering wireless, broadband, television, and landline phone services in Canada. It is one of the big three national wireless carriers, with its roughly 10 million customers constituting about 30% of the market. It is also the ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrierthe legacy telephone provider) throughout much of the eastern half of Canada, including in the most populous Canadian provincesOntario and Quebec.

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