BCE (TSE:BCE) Cut to Hold at TD Securities

TD Securities downgraded shares of BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has C$37.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of C$41.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BCE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of BCE from C$33.00 to C$37.00 in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Desjardins lifted their price objective on shares of BCE from C$40.00 to C$42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of BCE from C$38.00 to C$39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of BCE from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a C$37.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised their price target on shares of BCE from C$38.00 to C$39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$37.30.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of TSE BCE opened at C$34.06 on Thursday. BCE has a twelve month low of C$28.73 and a twelve month high of C$36.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 179.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of C$35.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$33.49. The stock has a market capitalization of C$31.76 billion, a PE ratio of 5.02, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.38.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Friday, March 6th. The company reported C$0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. BCE had a return on equity of 31.99% and a net margin of 26.40%.The firm had revenue of C$6.40 billion for the quarter. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.02%.

BCE Company Profile

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.