Royal Bank of Canada Raises BCE (TSE:BCE) Price Target to C$53.00

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) had its price objective hoisted by Royal Bank of Canada from C$51.00 to C$53.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, BayStreet.CA reports.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on BCE. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of BCE from C$47.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. National Bankshares decreased their price objective on shares of BCE from C$52.00 to C$50.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Cormark dropped their target price on BCE from C$53.00 to C$52.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on BCE from C$53.00 to C$50.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Desjardins upped their target price on BCE from C$48.00 to C$51.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of C$51.17.

BCE Trading Down 0.4 %

TSE BCE opened at C$47.56 on Thursday. BCE has a 1 year low of C$42.58 and a 1 year high of C$56.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 197.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of C$43.39 billion, a PE ratio of 22.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average of C$46.95 and a 200 day moving average of C$46.16.

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

BCE Announces Dividend

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

BCE Company Profile

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.