BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) to Post Q1 2024 Earnings of $0.70 Per Share, Cormark Forecasts

BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) – Analysts at Cormark issued their Q1 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of BCE in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, April 18th. Cormark analyst D. Mcfadgen expects that the company will post earnings per share of $0.70 for the quarter. The consensus estimate for BCE’s current full-year earnings is $3.04 per share.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported C$0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.73 by C$0.03. The company had revenue of C$6.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$6.48 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 9.17%.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on BCE. CIBC reduced their price target on BCE from C$54.00 to C$52.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets lowered BCE from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from C$54.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on BCE from C$57.00 to C$54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Scotiabank cut their target price on BCE from C$55.50 to C$53.25 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on BCE from C$54.00 to C$47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BCE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$52.48.

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock opened at C$44.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.98, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of C$40.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.44. The business’s 50-day moving average is C$47.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$51.29. BCE has a 1 year low of C$43.96 and a 1 year high of C$65.66.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a $0.998 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.97. This represents a $3.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.00%. BCE’s payout ratio is 175.00%.

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.