BCE (NYSE:BCE) Updates FY24 Earnings Guidance

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $2.99 to $3.15 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23. The company issued revenue guidance of $24.67 billion to $25.66 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $18.21 billion.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BCE traded up $0.61 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $33.60. The company had a trading volume of 2,259,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,339,421. BCE has a 12-month low of $31.82 and a 12-month high of $48.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $34.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.49. The company has a market cap of $30.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.33, a PEG ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.02. BCE had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 16.70%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that BCE will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.738 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.79%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 204.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on BCE. Argus cut BCE from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets restated a market perform rating and set a $46.00 price objective (down previously from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. CIBC upgraded BCE from a neutral rating to a sector outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, TD Securities cut shares of BCE from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $49.00.

About BCE

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.