BCE (TSE:BCE) Trading Down 7.9% – Here’s What Happened

BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) traded down 7.9% on Monday . The company traded as low as C$40.40 and last traded at C$41.28. 1,954,820 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 33% from the average session volume of 2,922,259 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$44.81.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank dropped their price target on BCE from C$50.50 to C$47.50 in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on BCE from C$46.00 to C$47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on BCE from C$52.00 to C$47.00 in a report on Tuesday. Cormark cut their price objective on shares of BCE from C$53.00 to C$52.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Desjardins lifted their target price on shares of BCE from C$48.00 to C$51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$47.23.

BCE Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of C$36.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 197.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.65. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is C$46.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$45.99.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a $0.998 dividend. This represents a $3.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio 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.