Canaccord Genuity Group Issues Positive Forecast for BCE (TSE:BCE) Stock Price

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) had its price objective upped by Canaccord Genuity Group from C$33.00 to C$33.50 in a research report report published on Friday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have a hold rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from C$35.00 to C$29.00 in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of BCE from C$45.00 to C$41.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on BCE from C$41.00 to C$37.50 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Scotiabank cut their price target on BCE from C$45.00 to C$42.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price objective on BCE from C$31.00 to C$33.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$40.42.

BCE Trading Down 6.2 %

BCE stock opened at C$31.62 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is C$34.53 and its 200 day moving average is C$41.31. BCE has a 12-month low of C$31.43 and a 12-month high of C$52.01. The stock has a market cap of C$28.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.71, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 197.43.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported C$0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.77 by C($0.02). BCE had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 8.75%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE will post 3.1120864 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a $0.9975 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.62%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 185.58%.

BCE Company Profile

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.