BCE (TSE:BCE) Upgraded to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have C$35.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of C$31.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Desjardins set a C$43.50 target price on BCE and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on BCE from C$39.00 to C$36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on BCE from C$35.00 to C$33.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. TD Securities upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on BCE from C$41.00 to C$39.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$37.29.

BCE Stock Performance

TSE BCE opened at C$30.57 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of C$32.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$33.61. The stock has a market cap of C$28.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.29. BCE has a 12-month low of C$29.66 and a 12-month high of C$36.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 183.90.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C$0.63 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$6.17 billion for the quarter. BCE had a net margin of 26.07% and a return on equity of 29.69%. On average, analysts forecast that BCE will post 3.1120864 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th were paid a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 25.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BCE news, Director Louis Vachon purchased 15,000 shares of BCE stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of C$33.39 per share, with a total value of C$500,850.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 75,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$2,504,250. This trade represents a 25.00% increase in their position. Also, insider Karine Moses sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$33.25, for a total value of C$116,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 3,712 shares in the company, valued at C$123,424. This represents a 48.53% decrease in their position. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,255 shares of company stock worth $376,464. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BCE Company Profile

Bell Media is Canada’s leading media and entertainment company with a portfolio of assets in premium video, audio, out-of-home advertising, and digital media. This includes Canada’s most-watched television network, CTV; the largest Canadian-owned video streamer, Crave, with a premium add-on to include STARZ; a powerful suite of specialty channels; the most-trusted news brand, CTV News; Canada’s cross-platform sports leaders, TSN and RDS; leading out-of-home advertising network, Astral; Québec’s fast-growing conventional French-language network, Noovo; the country’s leading radio and podcast app, iHeartRadio Canada; and a range of award-winning original productions, brands, and services.