BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$38.50.

Several research firms recently weighed in on BCE. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of BCE from C$38.00 to C$39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Desjardins cut their price target on shares of BCE from C$41.50 to C$41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of BCE from C$39.50 to C$41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, TD Securities cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from C$41.00 to C$37.00 in a report on Thursday, April 2nd.

BCE Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of TSE BCE opened at C$32.93 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$30.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a 50-day moving average price of C$33.33 and a 200-day moving average price of C$33.77. BCE has a 1 year low of C$29.68 and a 1 year high of C$36.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 183.90, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

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

BCE Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. BCE’s payout ratio is 25.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Sean Cohan sold 3,645 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$33.48, for a total transaction of C$122,034.60. Also, Director Louis Vachon purchased 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$33.39 per share, for a total transaction of C$500,850.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 75,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$2,504,250. The trade was a 25.00% increase in their position. Insiders have sold a total of 11,255 shares of company stock valued at $376,465 in the last three months. 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.