Cormark Trims BCE (TSE:BCE) Target Price to C$53.00

BCE (TSE:BCE - Free Report) NYSE: BCE had its target price cut by Cormark from C$58.00 to C$53.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, BayStreet.CA reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on BCE. BMO Capital Markets downgraded BCE from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and reduced their target price for the stock from C$54.00 to C$46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Scotiabank reduced their target price on BCE from C$55.50 to C$53.25 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their target price on BCE from C$52.00 to C$48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on BCE from C$57.00 to C$54.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on BCE from C$54.00 to C$47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of C$52.48.

BCE Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of TSE:BCE traded down C$0.08 during trading on Thursday, hitting C$44.34. 1,383,021 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,968,347. The stock has a market cap of C$40.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.44. BCE has a fifty-two week low of C$43.96 and a fifty-two week high of C$65.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of C$47.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$51.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.98.

BCE (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of C$6.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$6.48 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 9.17%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BCE will post 3.0377747 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.998 per share. This represents a $3.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.00%. This is an increase from BCE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.97. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. BCE's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.