BCE (TSE:BCE) Sets New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday after Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered their price target on the stock from C$39.00 to C$38.00. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce currently has an outperformer rating on the stock. BCE traded as low as C$27.75 and last traded at C$28.03, with a volume of 5222951 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$28.15.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of BCE from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from C$31.00 to C$35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of BCE from C$39.00 to C$36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Scotia lifted their target price on shares of BCE from C$39.00 to C$40.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Raymond James Financial set a C$37.00 price target on shares of BCE and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of BCE from C$35.00 to C$33.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$37.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at BCE

In related news, Director Louis Vachon acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$30.63 per share, with a total value of C$306,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 100,000 shares in the company, valued at C$3,063,000. This trade represents a 11.11% increase in their position. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Up 0.6%

The company has a market capitalization of C$26.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average is C$31.29 and its 200 day moving average is C$32.22.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported C$0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. BCE had a net margin of 25.89% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business had revenue of C$6.18 billion for the quarter. Research analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 3.1120864 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.96%.

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.