BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$58.88.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BCE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on BCE from C$59.00 to C$58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on BCE from C$60.00 to C$58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. Desjardins decreased their target price on BCE from C$60.00 to C$56.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 13th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on BCE from C$63.00 to C$59.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 18th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded BCE from a “sector perform overweight” rating to an “outperform overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of TSE BCE opened at C$53.12 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$48.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.52. BCE has a 12 month low of C$49.57 and a 12 month high of C$65.66. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is C$52.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$57.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 162.87, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.9675 per share. This represents a $3.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.29%. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.97. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.61%.

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 three segments: Bell Wireless, Bell Wireline, and Bell Media. The Bell Wireless segment offers integrated digital wireless voice and data communication products and services, as well as consumer electronics products.