BCE (TSE:BCE) Given a C$43.50 Price Target by Desjardins Analysts

Desjardins set a C$43.50 target price on BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) in a research report released on Wednesday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

BCE has been the subject of several other research reports. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of BCE from C$41.00 to C$39.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on BCE from C$39.00 to C$36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. TD raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a C$37.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. TD Securities raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of BCE from C$35.00 to C$33.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$37.55.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of TSE BCE opened at C$30.34 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 183.90. The firm has a market cap of C$28.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.29. BCE has a 1-year low of C$29.66 and a 1-year high of C$36.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of C$32.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$33.65.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C$0.63 earnings per share for the quarter. BCE had a net margin of 26.07% and a return on equity of 29.69%. The firm had revenue of C$6.17 billion during the quarter. Analysts anticipate that BCE will post 3.1120864 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th were issued a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.85%.

Insider Activity at BCE

In related news, insider Thierry Chaumont sold 4,110 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$33.59, for a total transaction of C$138,054.90. Also, insider Karine Moses sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$33.25, for a total transaction of C$116,375.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 3,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$123,424. The trade was a 48.53% decrease in their position. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,255 shares of company stock valued at $376,464. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

About BCE

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.