BCE (TSE:BCE) Releases Earnings Results

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) released its quarterly earnings data on Friday. The company reported C$0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, FiscalAI reports. BCE had a net margin of 26.40% and a return on equity of 31.99%.

BCE Stock Down 0.3%

BCE stock opened at C$35.46 on Friday. BCE has a fifty-two week low of C$28.73 and a fifty-two week high of C$36.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 179.16, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of C$34.36 and a 200 day moving average price of C$33.35. The company has a market capitalization of C$33.07 billion, a PE ratio of 5.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.38.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th were given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BCE shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of BCE from C$33.00 to C$37.00 in a report on Friday, February 6th. National Bank Financial lifted 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. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on BCE from C$40.25 to C$39.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, TD Securities increased their price objective on BCE from C$38.00 to C$40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$38.05.

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.