BCE (TSE:BCE) Cut to Hold at National Bank Financial

National Bank Financial cut shares of BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday morning, Zacks.com reports. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for BCE’s FY2024 earnings at $2.98 EPS.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on BCE. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of BCE from C$48.00 to C$51.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Cormark dropped their price target on BCE from C$53.00 to C$52.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on BCE from C$50.00 to C$52.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. National Bankshares cut BCE from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and lowered their price objective for the company from C$52.00 to C$48.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on BCE from C$46.00 to C$47.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of C$51.00.

BCE Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of C$42.41 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.48. BCE has a fifty-two week low of C$42.58 and a fifty-two week 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is C$47.22 and its 200-day moving average is C$46.08.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported C$0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.80 by C($0.02). BCE had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The firm had revenue of C$6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$6.07 billion. Analysts anticipate that BCE will post 3.0598958 EPS for the current year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.998 per share. This represents a $3.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of ∞. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 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.