BCE (NYSE:BCE) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.19 EPS

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. BCE had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 16.88%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. BCE updated its FY 2024 guidance to 2.180-2.300 EPS.

BCE Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of BCE stock traded up $0.40 on Friday, hitting $34.33. The stock had a trading volume of 2,894,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,101,363. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $33.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.80. BCE has a 1 year low of $31.13 and a 1 year high of $42.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.84, a P/E/G ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.729 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.49%. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 201.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BCE shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. CIBC raised BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.33.

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 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.