BCE (TSE:BCE) Upgraded by CIBC to “Outperform”

CIBC upgraded shares of BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, BayStreet.CA reports.

BCE has been the subject of several other research reports. National Bankshares decreased their target price on BCE from C$55.00 to C$53.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on BCE from C$54.00 to C$47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on BCE from C$57.00 to C$54.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Desjardins cut their price target on BCE from C$58.00 to C$55.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on BCE from C$57.00 to C$55.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BCE currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of C$52.48.

BCE Trading Down 0.7 %

TSE BCE opened at C$44.59 on Tuesday. BCE has a 1-year low of C$43.96 and a 1-year high of C$65.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average of C$46.98 and a 200-day moving average of C$51.06. The firm has a market cap of C$40.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.44.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported C$0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.73 by C$0.03. The company had revenue of C$6.47 billion during 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BCE will post 3.0377747 EPS for the current year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.998 per share. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.97. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.95%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.