BCE (TSE:BCE) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported C$0.74 EPS for the quarter, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of C$6.18 billion during the quarter. BCE had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 25.89%.

BCE Trading Up 4.6%

BCE stock opened at C$30.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.06, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of C$28.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.41. BCE has a 1 year low of C$26.66 and a 1 year high of C$36.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is C$29.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$32.45.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.96%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Louis Vachon acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of C$30.63 per share, for a total transaction of C$306,300.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$3,063,000. The trade was a 11.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Desjardins dropped their target price on BCE from C$43.00 to C$41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. TD raised their target price on shares of BCE from C$40.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of BCE from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from C$31.00 to C$35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reduced their price target on shares of BCE from C$39.00 to C$38.00 and set an “outperformer” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of BCE from C$39.00 to C$36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$37.42.

About BCE

Bell is Canada’s largest communications company 1, leading the way in advanced fibre and wireless networks, enterprise services and digital media. By delivering next-generation technology that leverages cloud-based and AI-driven solutions, we’re keeping customers connected, informed and entertained while enabling businesses to compete on the world stage.