BCE (TSE:BCE) Price Target Raised to C$52.00 at National Bankshares

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) had its price target upped by National Bankshares from C$50.00 to C$52.00 in a research note published on Thursday, BayStreet.CA reports.

BCE has been the topic of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of BCE from C$47.00 to C$48.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on BCE from C$51.00 to C$53.00 in a research report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on BCE from C$53.00 to C$50.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. TD Securities upped their price objective on BCE from C$47.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Desjardins increased their price objective on BCE from C$48.00 to C$51.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of C$51.17.

BCE Stock Performance

TSE BCE opened at C$47.56 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of C$43.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.48. BCE has a 52-week low of C$42.58 and a 52-week high of C$56.18. The business’s 50-day moving average price is C$46.95 and its 200 day moving average price is C$46.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 197.43.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported C$0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.80 by C($0.02). BCE had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The company had revenue of C$6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$6.07 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that BCE will post 2.991195 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.998 dividend. This represents a $3.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 185.58%.

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.