BCE (BCE) to Release Earnings on Thursday

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) will release its earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, May 2nd. Analysts expect BCE to post earnings of C$0.80 per share for the quarter.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported C$0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.73 by C$0.03. The business had revenue of C$6.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$6.48 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 9.17%.

BCE Stock Performance

TSE:BCE opened at C$45.23 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is C$46.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$50.95. BCE has a twelve month low of C$43.96 and a twelve month high of C$65.66. The firm has a market capitalization of C$41.26 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.98.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a $0.998 dividend. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.97. This represents a $3.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.83%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 175.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets downgraded BCE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from C$54.00 to C$46.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Desjardins cut their price objective on BCE from C$58.00 to C$55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Cormark dropped their price target on BCE from C$58.00 to C$53.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on BCE from C$55.50 to C$53.25 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on BCE from C$52.00 to C$48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$52.48.

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.