BCE (BCE) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE is scheduled to issue its quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, May 2nd. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.60 per share for the quarter. BCE has set its FY24 guidance at $2.99-3.15 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance at 2.190-2.310 EPS.Parties that wish to listen to the company's conference call can do so using this link.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 8.82%. On average, analysts expect BCE to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $2 EPS for the next fiscal year.

BCE Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of BCE stock traded down $0.18 during trading on Thursday, reaching $32.89. The stock had a trading volume of 1,759,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,582,766. The company has a market capitalization of $30.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $34.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.70. BCE has a 52 week low of $31.82 and a 52 week high of $48.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.742 per share. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from BCE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. BCE's dividend payout ratio is presently 174.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $46.00 target price (down previously from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. CIBC raised BCE from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Argus downgraded BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $49.00.

BCE Company Profile

BCE Inc, a communications company, provides wireless, wireline, Internet, and television (TV) services to residential, business, and wholesale customers in Canada. The company operates through two segments, Bell Communication and Technology Services, and Bell Media. The Bell Communication and Technology Services segment provides wireless products and services including mobile data and voice plans and devices; wireline products and services comprising data, including internet access, internet protocol television, cloud-based services, and business solutions, as well as voice, and other communication services and products; and satellite TV and connectivity services for residential, small and medium-sized business, government, and large enterprise customers.