Analysts Offer Predictions for BCE Inc.'s Q1 2024 Earnings (TSE:BCE)

BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE - Free Report) NYSE: BCE - Cormark issued their Q1 2024 earnings per share estimates for BCE in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, April 18th. Cormark analyst D. Mcfadgen anticipates that the company will post earnings of $0.70 per share for the quarter. The consensus estimate for BCE's current full-year earnings is $3.04 per share.

BCE (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported C$0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$0.73 by C$0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 9.17%. The business had revenue of C$6.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of C$6.48 billion.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on BCE. TD Securities dropped their price target on BCE from C$55.00 to C$51.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. CIBC dropped their price target on BCE from C$54.00 to C$52.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on BCE from C$55.50 to C$53.25 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on BCE from C$54.00 to C$47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on BCE from C$57.00 to C$54.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of C$52.48.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of TSE BCE traded up C$0.46 during trading on Friday, reaching C$44.80. 2,319,908 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,960,931. BCE has a 52-week low of C$43.96 and a 52-week high of C$65.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.98, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50-day moving average of C$47.53 and a 200-day moving average of C$51.26. The stock has a market capitalization of C$40.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.44.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a $0.998 dividend. This is a positive change from BCE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.97. This represents a $3.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. BCE's dividend payout ratio is currently 175.00%.

About BCE

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.