BCE (TSE:BCE) Price Target Cut to C$54.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) had its target price lowered by Royal Bank of Canada from C$57.00 to C$54.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. TD Securities cut their price objective on shares of BCE from C$55.00 to C$51.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Desjardins cut their price objective on shares of BCE from C$58.00 to C$55.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. National Bankshares cut their price objective on shares of BCE from C$55.00 to C$53.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of BCE from C$57.25 to C$55.50 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of BCE from C$57.00 to C$55.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Eight equities research 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of C$53.81.

BCE Stock Down 0.4 %

TSE:BCE opened at C$44.82 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is C$48.67 and its 200-day moving average price is C$51.60. BCE has a 1-year low of C$43.96 and a 1-year high of C$65.66. The firm has a market capitalization of C$40.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.98, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (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 the consensus estimate of C$6.48 billion. BCE had a net margin of 9.17% and a return on equity of 10.81%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BCE will post 3.0448065 EPS for the current year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.998 dividend. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.97. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.91%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.