BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) Stock Rated "Moderate Buy" by Wall Street Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts rate BCE “Moderate Buy”: Eight of 13 analysts recommend buying the stock, one rates it a strong buy, and four recommend holding. The average 12-month price target is C$37.69 versus a recent price of C$29.69.
• Recent performance and financials: BCE reported quarterly EPS of C$0.65 on revenue of C$6.18 billion, with a 25.89% net margin and 27.73% return on equity. The stock is near its 52-week low and carries a high debt-to-equity ratio of 175.06.
• Dividend and insider activity: BCE announced a quarterly dividend of C$0.4375, equivalent to C$1.75 annually and a 5.9% yield. Director Louis Vachon also purchased 10,000 shares worth approximately C$306,300.

BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$37.69.

Several brokerages have commented on BCE. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on BCE from C$39.00 to C$36.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. TD lifted their price objective on BCE from C$37.00 to C$40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Scotia increased their target price on shares of BCE from C$39.00 to C$40.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Desjardins raised their price target on shares of BCE from C$41.00 to C$43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a C$37.00 price target on shares of BCE and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th.

BCE Stock Performance

TSE:BCE opened at C$29.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of C$27.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.37. The firm's 50 day moving average is C$31.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$32.68. BCE has a fifty-two week low of C$29.53 and a fifty-two week high of C$36.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.06.

BCE (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported C$0.65 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$6.18 billion during the quarter. BCE had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 25.89%. Analysts expect that BCE will post 3.1120864 EPS for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.9%. BCE's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.96%.

Insider Activity at BCE

In other BCE news, Director Louis Vachon bought 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$30.63 per share, with a total value of C$306,300.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$3,063,000. The trade was a 11.11% increase in their position. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

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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