BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.74

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th,Zacks Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.737 per share by the utilities provider on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73.

BCE has raised its dividend by an average of 4.9% annually over the last three years. BCE has a payout ratio of 131.4% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect BCE to earn $2.23 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $2.89 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 129.6%.

BCE Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of BCE stock traded up $0.44 during trading on Friday, hitting $28.51. The stock had a trading volume of 784,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,272,115. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a market capitalization of $26.01 billion, a PE ratio of 17.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.59. BCE has a 1 year low of $27.29 and a 1 year high of $41.77. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.64.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BCE shares. Barclays lowered their target price on BCE from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Edward Jones downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.33.

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.