BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shareholders to Get C$0.44 Quarterly Dividend

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of C$0.44 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, January 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 15th.

BCE has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 0.2% annually over the last three years. BCE has a payout ratio of 66.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect BCE to earn $1.92 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.26 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.6%.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $22.00 on Friday. BCE has a 12 month low of $18.68 and a 12 month high of $26.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $21.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market cap of $20.51 billion, a PE ratio of 4.50, a P/E/G ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 0.53.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.04. BCE had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 25.49%. Equities research analysts predict that BCE will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Bank of America upgraded BCE from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $24.50 to $27.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of BCE from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.00.

About BCE

BCE Inc is a Canadian communications and media company headquartered in Montréal, Québec. Through its Bell Canada operations, the company provides wireless and wireline telecommunications services, including mobile voice and data, high-speed internet, local and long-distance voice, and digital television. Bell serves residential, small-business, enterprise and government customers across Canada.

BCE also operates a media business through Bell Media, which includes television networks, digital platforms, radio stations and related content operations.