Royal Bank Of Canada Lowers BCE (TSE:BCE) Price Target to C$36.00

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada cut its price target on BCE to C$36.00 from C$39.00, while keeping an outperform rating. The new target still implies about 19% upside from BCE’s previous close.
• Other analysts have been mixed but generally constructive: TD and TD Securities upgraded BCE to buy, while Scotiabank and Desjardins trimmed their targets. Overall, BCE now has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average target of C$37.30.
• BCE shares were up 0.1% on the day to C$30.23, near the lower end of its 12-month range. The company also reported quarterly earnings of C$0.63 per share on C$6.17 billion in revenue.

BCE (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE had its target price decreased by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from C$39.00 to C$36.00 in a report released on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 19.09% from the company's previous close.

BCE has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD raised BCE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a C$37.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of BCE from C$41.00 to C$39.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. TD Securities raised shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Desjardins reduced their price objective on shares of BCE from C$41.50 to C$41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BCE has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of C$37.30.

BCE Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of TSE BCE traded up C$0.02 on Friday, reaching C$30.23. 1,180,957 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,091,406. The business's 50 day simple moving average is C$32.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$33.68. BCE has a 12 month low of C$29.66 and a 12 month high of C$36.25. The company has a market cap of C$28.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 183.90.

BCE (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C$0.63 earnings per share for the quarter. BCE had a return on equity of 29.69% and a net margin of 26.07%.The company had revenue of C$6.17 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BCE will post 3.1120864 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BCE

In other BCE news, insider Karine Moses sold 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$33.25, for a total transaction of C$116,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 3,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$123,424. The trade was a 48.53% decrease in their position. Also, Director Louis Vachon purchased 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$33.39 per share, for a total transaction of C$500,850.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 75,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$2,504,250. This trade represents a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,255 shares of company stock worth $376,464. 0.02% of the stock is 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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