TD Securities Trims BCE (TSE:BCE) Target Price to C$47.00

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) had its target price trimmed by TD Securities from C$48.00 to C$47.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of BCE from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and decreased their price objective for the company from C$54.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Cormark lowered their price target on BCE from C$58.00 to C$53.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Desjardins cut their price objective on 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. Barclays dropped their price target on BCE from C$52.00 to C$48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of BCE from C$54.00 to C$47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of C$52.15.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at C$45.96 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is C$46.52 and its 200-day moving average is C$50.88. BCE has a one year low of C$43.96 and a one year high of C$65.11. The firm has a market cap of C$41.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.44. 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 issued 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 company had revenue of C$6.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$6.48 billion. BCE had a net margin of 9.17% and a return on equity of 10.81%. Equities analysts predict that BCE will post 3.0377747 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.998 per share. This represents a $3.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 13th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.