BCE (TSE:BCE) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported C$0.74 EPS for the quarter, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of C$6.18 billion for the quarter. BCE had a net margin of 25.89% and a return on equity of 27.73%.

BCE Trading Up 4.6%

Shares of BCE stock traded up C$1.35 on Thursday, hitting C$30.83. The stock had a trading volume of 9,723,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,408,615. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.06. BCE has a one year low of C$26.66 and a one year high of C$36.25. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is C$29.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$32.46. The stock has a market cap of C$28.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.57, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.37.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th were issued a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BCE shares. Desjardins lowered their price objective on shares of BCE from C$43.00 to C$41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of BCE from C$40.00 to C$36.50 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. National Bank Financial decreased their target price on shares of BCE from C$38.00 to C$36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. TD lifted their target price on shares of BCE from C$40.00 to C$44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a C$32.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$37.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Louis Vachon purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$30.63 per share, for a total transaction of C$306,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$3,063,000. This represents a 11.11% increase in their position. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About BCE

Bell is Canada’s largest communications company 1, leading the way in advanced fibre and wireless networks, enterprise services and digital media. By delivering next-generation technology that leverages cloud-based and AI-driven solutions, we’re keeping customers connected, informed and entertained while enabling businesses to compete on the world stage.