BCE (TSE:BCE) Rating Lowered to Hold at National Bank Financial

National Bank Financial lowered shares of BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Zacks.com reports. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for BCE’s Q3 2024 earnings at $0.75 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $2.98 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $3.02 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. TD Securities upped their price target on BCE from C$47.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of BCE from C$48.00 to C$51.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of BCE from C$51.00 to C$53.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Desjardins upped their price objective on shares of BCE from C$48.00 to C$51.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of BCE from C$50.00 to C$52.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of C$51.00.

BCE Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of BCE opened at C$45.88 on Monday. BCE has a 12-month low of C$42.58 and a 12-month high of C$56.18. The firm has a market capitalization of C$41.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of C$47.23 and a 200 day moving average price of C$46.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 197.43.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported C$0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.80 by C($0.02). BCE had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 8.75%. The firm had revenue of C$6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$6.07 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that BCE will post 3.0598958 EPS for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.998 per share. This represents a $3.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 185.58%.

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.